Fool Me
by CloakSeeker
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Story takes place during S01E13 T.R.A.C.K.S. But in my story Skye didn't get shot. And Ward, well you'll have to read and figure it out. R&R Hope you enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

Fool me

This was a disaster! Coulson, Ward and May were gone, nowhere to be found, which meant they left or rather had to leave the train. Jemma was temporarily incapacitated due to the fact that she was knocked out by that night-night grenade. The obly ones left on the train and awake were Fitz and Skye. Not the best SHIELD agents. At least not in the field.

The train suddenly stopped and the two young agents looked out the small window watching as the Cybertek people loaded the case into one of their trucks.

"Do you have a second trakcer?" Skye asked looking to Fitz.

"Yes. Why?" he asked, although he knew what she meant.

"We're going to follow them. We need to make sure that they don't get to Quinn" she simply stated.

"What about Simmons?" he asked, looking over to the unconscious biochemist.

"We leave her here. The others will come looking for us and they will find her" Skye explained.

"Ok. I'll leave this spare night-night gun, so that she can protected herself" he said and left it in her hands. The two team mates covered the girl with a blanket, hidding her completely.

"Come on, let's keep moving" Skye motioned him to follow her.

Meanwhile on the Bus. Coulson was currently stitching up May when Ward entered letting the two senior agents know that SHIELD had located the train. Apparently it stopped shortly after changing tracks in the italian country side. Before May could jump off the table Ward left for the cockpit to fly them to the new location. It didn't take them long to get there and corroborate with the italian SHIELD team on the ground that Cybertek left, leaving no trace of where they went.

"What about our team?" Coulson asked. But before anyone could answer, Coulson saw the dirty window in the luggage wagon and a small clean strip, indicating that the someone peeked through it. He immediately boarded the train entering the wagon followed closely by Ward and May, each holding a night-night gun in their hands. Suddenly Simmons appeared out of nowhere and started shooting with the night-night gun Fitz had left behind.

"Simmons, calm down, it's us" Coulson tried to calm her. The girl looked surprised and asked "Where are Fitz and Skye?" The others looked as surprised as the biochemist, unable to answer.

"Coulson, look" May spoke, handing him her phone. "Someone activated the tracker."

"Fitz and Skye, probably. They must have followed Cybertek to the exchange point" coulson concluded. "Come on, let's get there."

They all left in a hurry, knowing that the two young members of their team were no where near ready to infiltrate an enemy compound, let alone one that would be heavily guarded. They got into their truck, followed by a couple of other SHIELD cars, racing to get there in time. They all feared that Skye and Fitz might get caught and be killed.

Luckily May decided to drive their car, because somehow Ward felt uneasy. He didn't know why. Well he did, but he couldn't let his feelings get in the way. He needed to stay focused for Fitz and for Skye. _Skye_. Somehow he couldn't stop thinking about her. He knew deep down why, but tried to compartmentalize his feelings. He needed to stay on top of things. He was a specialist after all. But...

Before he could finish his thought he realized that the car has stopped. He immediately jumped out of the car and ran towards the entrance of the mansion. He could here noises from inside the house, but couldn't make sense of them. It sounded like a fight. He hoped that both his team mates weren't involved in that fight. Especially, since neighter had the proper training. Sure, he trained Skye, but the girl was far from being a real SHIELD agent. He needed to find them, ASAP. And then he saw Fitz, hidding behind a black SUV and someone pointing a gun at him. Ward immediately shot the man with his night-night gun and ran towards the scientist.

"Where is Skye?" he asked. Before Fitz could answer Coulson and the two female agents got to them, all of them relieved for finding Fitz and worried for not finding Skye with him.

"She went inside. She didn't want Quinn to get away..." Before Fitz could continue however Ward already ran into the house, terrified that something might happen to his rookie. He looked around carefully not wanting to alert anyone of his presence. He heard footsteps coming close and he hid behind a wall. He peeked around the corner and saw Skye with a gun in her hands.

"Skye" he yelled out, startling the hacker, who immediately turned around pointing the gun at him.

"Jesus, Ward, you scared me" she said, a little out of breath.

"Good to see you too" he said, a small smile on his face.

"Where did he go?" she asked.

"Who?" Ward asked her back.

"Mike. Mike Peterson."

"He's dead" Ward answered, thinking she must have hit her head or something. He lowered his own gun and approached her trying to touch her head.

"What are you doing?" she asked, taking a step back.

"Looking for some head injury. Mike Peterson died in that explosion on the bridge" he tried to tell her.

"He did not. He is alive. And he has a magic leg."

"A what?" Before Ward got his answer Coulson and the others stormed inside and sighed in relief for finding the hacker unharmed.

"Skye, I'm so glad you are alright" Coulson said pulling her into a hug.

"A.C. It's nice to see you too, but we need to find Mike. And yes. He is alive. And he has a magic leg. Well, a mechanical one. I don't have time. We need to find him." Skye tried to walk away but Coulson grabbed her arm.

"What?" she asked a little annoyed.

"Where do you thing you are going?" coulson asked her.

"I told you. To find Mike."

"That is not your job..." They suddenly were stopped when one SHIELD agent came in and told them that a man, well half man half robot, took off. Unfortunately, they were unable to pursue him.

"See? Now his gone" Skye said exasperated.

"Uhm, I don't wanna break this up" May started "but where is Quinn?"

"Down stairs, in the cellar. Bastard tried to shoot me in the gut. Said the Clairvoyant ordered him to."

"What?" Ward and Coulson asked, both men angry.

"Don't worry. I knocked him out."

"How did you do that?" May wanted to know.

"Well, I guess all those training sessions did pay of" Skye said. "O-kay, this is awkard. I think I'm going to play with my phone now" she said and left the mansion, leaving the others silently staring at her.

Outside Skye took out her phone dialing a number. "SHIELD protocol Seven Vector Alpha Zulu, codename Angel." She waited for her call to be redirected and was startled when Coulson put his hand on her shoulder.

"Who are you calling?" he asked suspiciously.

"Uhm..." but she couldn't answer because someone on the other side of the line picked up the phone. "Sir, it's Angel. I'm at Quinn's mansion. And, I'm sorry, but I've been made. Coulson is here. You need to tell him" Skye said breathlessly, while the others, who came outside to join her and Coulson, looked at her in wonder.

"What? Rule number one: NO ONE CAN NOW" somebody, a man, shouted. "Put me on speaker" he commanded.

"Who are you talking to?" Coulson insisted.

"You'll see. Well hear" Skye said and put her phone on speaker.

"Can everybody hear me?" Director Fury asked.

"Director Fury?" everyone asked incredulous.

"Yeah, who did you expect? Santa? So, we are not gonna talk about this on the phone. I'm going to meet with you on the Bus. Agent May take Route 7, I will take a jet and dock on. Coulson, Skye is with me. She is not allowed to say a single word about her job, until I get there. Understood?"

"Understood, sir" Coulson answered.

"Skye?" Director Fury asked, clearly pissed.

"Understood" she replied.

After Skye answered Director Fury hung up, leaving everyone speechless.

„I promise everything will become clear once he gets to us" Skye tried to explain. „I know I promised I wouldn't lie, but I was under orders. He will explain. You just need to know that everything I did was to protect you. All of you. Just don't judge before you have all the facts. And no. It's not like with Miles. I swear" Skye said, walking towards the car.

They all were stunned at what just happened, but knew that is Fury was involved it had to be good. Well, sort of.

The team left the mansion, taking an unconscious Quinn with them. After they got to the Bus, Skye immediately locked herself inside her bunk, refusing to talk to anybody. Ward and Coulson took Quinn to the Cage, where they locked him in. May went to the cockpit preparing everything for their departure.

„Wheels up in five" she said over the coms.

FitzSimmons stayed in the lab, trying to figure this whole thing out. But they knew that no matter they came up with was probably wrong. So they focused on their work, until Fury would make an appearence.

It didn't take long until Fury docked on and got on the Bus. The team gathered in the commom room and were shortly joined by May, who left the cockpit and Skye who finally left her bunk.

„So, Skye. Care to explain?" Fury talked directly to her.

„What do you want me to say? Hey, boss, I messed up. The team found out. Which, by the way, I'm happy they did. I told you like a million times that I didn't wanna keep secrets from them. But did you listen? NO. Everything for the mission. Even if they hate me now" Skye shouted and almost started crying.

„No one hates you", Simmons said gently and decided to stand next to her friend.

„She is right" Coulson started „we just want to know what is going on. That's all."

„Well, why don't you ask him" Skye said, pointing at the director.

„Alright" Fury started. „Remember after your Peru mission, Coulson, that I told you the girl was a risk?" Coulson nodded. „I monitored her. And when she hacked us during the Overkill mission I went to find her. I invited her into my office at the Hub and we had a little talk."

„You mean, you yelled" Skye said quitely, but not quitely enough. The director glared at her.

„Maybe I should yell again. Maybe then you will follow orders" he said, raising his voice.

„Follow orders? Your kidding. I've been busting my ass for you. Not only do I know every SHIELD protocol in the manual, I've been working over time for the past how many months now?"

„You said you wanted to help" Fury yelled louder.

„And I did. Still do. But I wanted only one thing. Tell them" Skye yelled back, pointing at the team.

„I'm sorry, I still don't understand" Coulson spoke calmly, trying to decrease the tension.

„Skye is very good at what she is doing. I knew her work from before, when she was a Rising Tide member. I asked her to check our system, to fix problems within it. There is an unseen enemy, that I won't talk about now and Skye helped us"

„Boss!" Skye shouted. „What the F... Don't you think this is a time when we should use that nice word you like so much. You know classified. You never know who might listen?"

„You mean him?" Fury asked pointing at Ward.

„Boss?" Skye was louder this time.

„Ok. Let's talk. There is an enemy. No need to know more. One of my most trusted agents has infitrated the enemy's ranks and is currently on mission" Fury walked closer to Ward „he has proven himself on countless occasions and is one of the few people I trust with having my back" Fury finished, putting a hand on the specialist shoulder. „He currently made his other boss believe that he infiltrated this team to gather intel on us."

„What?" Skye asked dumbfounded. „Hang on. Ward? I told you, not two months ago, that he is the enemy. And you couldn't tell me his on our side?"

„What difference would have that made?" Fury asked.

„What difference? All the difference. I nearly killed him last week" Skye stated matter-of- factly.

„Yeah, right, like you could do that" Ward joked.

„I wouldn't joke about that, Agent Ward. You only know the nice Skye. But the bad Skye is an entire different story. She could take you down. Kid's talented. She put me down a couple of times" Fury stated, a little bit proud of the young woman.

„I don't understand" May started. „I've watched her during traing with Agent Ward. She doesn't seem like she could hurt a flie."

„Oh, but she can, Agent May. You'll see."

„Ok, stop. All of you. So Ward here" pointing at the specialist „is a SHIELD agent, pretending to be an enemy agent pretending to be a SHIELD agent" Skye asked, clearly confused.

„Right" Fury answered.

„So his is a triple agent?" Coulson asked.

„Yes" Ward answered.

„And you are really on our side?" Fitz asked his team mate, still shocked after all these revelations.

„Yes" Ward assured, not just Fitz, but everyone.

„This is fucking unbelievable" Skye shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

„Language, young lady" Fury scolded her.

„It is" she defended.

„You know full well that I couldn't tell you. And if it makes you feel any better he didn't know about you."

„I doesn't" Skye whispered, gaining a smile from the specialist. „What are you smilling at?"

„Nothing."

„Ok. I think we need to process this" Coulson said.

„How about you and May join me in your office" Fury said, leaving the common area, followed by the two senior agents.

„Fitz, come on, let's go down stairs" Jemma said, dragging Fitz after her.

„But why? I still have questions" he tried to stop her, but she gave him a „they need to talk look" and continued her way downstairs.

After the scientists left Ward sat down on the couch inviting Skye to sit next to him.

„So, you are a triple agent?"

„Yes. And you work for Fury?"

„Yeah. Since your mission in South Ossetia." Ward nodded. „Can I ask you something?"

„Sure. Go ahead."

„Since you were undercover, you probably lied a lot" Ward knew where this was going and stopped her by holding his hand up.

„I couldn't tell you guys the truth, but if you want to know about our talks, the personal stuff at least, that was all true. I swear."

Skye put a hand over one of Ward's and closed her eyes. When she opened them she just said „I believe you".


	2. Chapter 2

"I was wondering if we could talk" Ward started.

"About?" Skye asked.

"Everything. At first this team was just another job, but now… well now you are more and I wanted us to start over, now that everything is out. Or at least some of it."

"I think you are right, but we should talk to all of them and get Fury as well". Ward just nodded and stood up, walking towards Coulson's office when the director and the two senior agents returned to the common area.

"Where's FitzSimmons?" Director Fury asked.

"The lab" Ward answered.

"Go get them" Fury ordered.

"I'm going" Skye said, leaving immediately.

It didn't take long for Skye to return with FitzSimmons and joining the others on the couch.

"I talked to Coulson and May and we all decided that for the sake of the mission and SHIELD itself you should know a few things. I want you to listen carefully, without interruptions and ask your questions when I'm done." They all nodded. "Ever since SHIELD was founded an enemy infiltrated our organization. We thought that we had defeated said enemy, but we were wrong. Hydra." Everyone, except Fury, Ward and Skye, gasped in wonder. Even Agent May was completely surprised by the news. Both her and Coulson knew from their conversation with Fury that an enemy infiltrated SHIELD a long time ago, but they weren't told the enemy's name.

"They have been part of SHIELD ever since the war. They are still hiding which means they are preparing for something. Agent Ward here was recruited by them when he was a teenager. At first he didn't know better or had no clue who Hydra really was, until he himself became a SHIELD agent. Learning about our past, about our fight against Hydra back in the day, he decided to do the right thing. About two years ago after he witnessed firsthand how Hydra treated not only their enemies, but their own agents he realized that the greater good of the world wasn't really in Hydra's best interest, like he was told. The decision to come clean was difficult, because he had to go against the man that got him out of a hell hole, against a man that at first was like a father to him, a mentor, but turned out to be a lying, backstabbing cruel son of bitch. His SO Agent John Garrett. To this day Garrett has no clue that Ward switched sides. That bastard trained this boy so well, that he couldn't even see it, when Ward became a real Agent of SHIELD. As for Skye, well, part of the story you already know. I wanted her to figure out what was going on in our system. Of course, she had no clue about Hydra. But when she came to me, about four months ago and told me that Hydra infiltrated SHIELD I had Romanoff interrogate her. I wanted to know if she was a sleeper agent or if she was the hacker I hoped her to be. It was the latter. Romanoff cleared her. Ever since Skye remodeled our system, finding sleeper Hydra agents within SHIELD. And together with the information we got from Ward we were able to track them. Right now, Skye is working on a new system, Hydra-free, but it will take a while until we can actually use it."

"Actually, we can" Skye started. "My program is already working."

"Since when?" Fury asked surprised.

"Last week" she simply stated.

"Why didn't you inform me?"

"How? You were off the grid and Agent Hill dismissed me."

"Alright, show me now."

Skye stood up and walked over to the command center of the Bus preparing everything for her demonstration.

"Ladies and gentlemen, step right up, Step right up. Behold the Triade" Skye said in a dramatic voice.

"Knock it off" Fury scolded.

"Oh, come on. Ok, you are not happy today. But maybe this will make you happy" Skye typed quickly over the holotable and a Earth-like sphere appeared in front of them. "This is SHIELD 2.0. This program contains every information and every agent, both SHIELD and Hydra, since its inception. I even put in info about known Hydra agents from back in the day, you know Red Skull day. The program is designed to absorb information, which means if Coulson for instance starts eating Tropical Pizza and someone would put this information in his personal file or someone would just mention this randomly, the program would absorb, analyze and use it. If Coulson would meet someone new same thing would happen. Only difference, if it's a person it would get a file with all kinds of information. Where that person was born, what that person likes or dislikes. It's basically surveillance. Also, I wrote an algorithm that sorts through the people. It determines who's SHIELD, who's Hydra who's something else. Next layer" and a brighter, bigger sphere is placed over the previous one "is the Sun. I thought about it while watching a Star Trek episode" almost everyone rolled their eyes at this comment "What? I get my best ideas from there. Ok, anyway, like in space it's the best way to hide. The program is designed to mislead anyone who even tries to hack SHIELD 2.0. It works like a mirror. Even if someone would make it to this layer, which I doubt, the program is designed to give false information, like telling your computer you just won a phone or a laptop or the jackpot in some stupid online game. Or redirects you to a bogus site or worse porn, because those sites or filled with viruses. The Sun itself would shout millions of viruses into your system. You would need a really good antivirus to even begin to scrub your hard drive clean. Next layer" this time several small, dark spots appeared over the Sun-layer "these are black holes. When someone attempts to hack my system" Fury cleared his throat "I mean, our system" Fury nodded "the black holes would suck the hacker in. Not only would the hacker be bombarded with very powerful viruses, but the longer he tries to hack himself in or tries to get out of the hole, the more information is fed to the SHIELD 2.0 program offering us a real time view on the hacker, like this" a second window opened and Coulson recognized his desktop background "and we would be able to see what the hacker is doing without him knowing. And if you thought that was cool, check this out" she typed a code into the program and suddenly a sequence of numbers appeared.

"What is this?" Jemma asked.

"GPS coordinates" Fury answered. "You did it, kid. You actually did it."

"Told you I could" Skye bragged.

"I just have a question" Coulson started "why did you use my computer for this demonstration?"

"Because it was the first one I put my hands on. Don't worry, no viruses."

"Ok. I hope so."

"Just to understand it all. This program, SHIELD 2.0, is a surveillance program, on basically everyone in the world?" May asked for the first time.

"Yeah, and the other layers are there for protection. I'm fully aware of what I did here. If Hydra would get a hold of this… well I don't even want to know what then."

"That's impressive, Skye" Ward told her sincerely.

"Thanks" she answered, a little flustered, not really accustomed to the compliments.

"There's another thing you should know" Ward started. "But maybe you should tell them, director. You know, about the Clairvoyant."

"Right. Well, thanks to Agent Ward we know that the Clairvoyant is not really special. Means he has no gifts. He is an agent. I'm sorry Coulson, it's John Garrett."

"What?" all shouted in disbelief.

"And you knew?" Skye asked Ward, clearly pissed. "You could have told us. Maybe we would have found him earlier."

"Skye, stop" the director told her "I told him not to. Use any means necessary to find Coulson, but not if it meant blowing his cover. Besides, it wasn't Garrett who kidnapped him. And I had faith that between all of you you would find him. And you did. So stop right there."

"But…" Skye tried.

"No buts!"

"Skye, Director Fury is right. Now that we know all these things I can understand. And you helped me come back. So…"

"I'm really sorry Coulson. I tried my best and I failed you. I didn't know Garrett planed to kidnap you."

"I would like to know something" May started "who within Hydra send you to spy on us and why?"

"Garrett. He wants to know how you survived. He wants that miracle drug for himself. He is dying, you see. Ever since Serbia he was slowly dying, blaming SHIELD for not coming for him. And when he heard you died and Fury moved heaven and Earth to save you he completely lost it. Since I was his right hand he ordered me to become a part of your team to spy on you. I reported to him everything he wanted, but before I did that I checked with Fury first. It was the only way. If it would have been anyone else, well…"

"That other person wouldn't have been so considered" Coulson finished.

"Yeah."

"Ok. Now I have a question. If Garrett is the Clairvoyant and Quinn was ordered by him to shoot me and you knew about Garrett – did _you _know that I was going to get shot?" she asked Ward hoping for a no.

"No." _Thank God_, Skye thought, a little smile across her face.

"Ok. Another one. Why me?"

"Cause Coulson cares for you, kid" Fury explained. "And what would hurt him more than lose you. Any of you actually, but I know Phil, he kinda likes this awkward daddy role."

"What can I say?" Coulson laughed.

"That's all nice, but I don't buy it. I want to know why. And there's on;y one person who could answer that" she said and left the room, heading to the Cage. She entered and locked the door so that no one could disturb her.

"Damn, that kid is fast" Fury muttered. "Get me the feed to the cell" he ordered and Fitz quickly obeyed.

"Sir, there's a problem. I can't. She must have overwritten it somehow" Fitz explained.

"I hate it when she's good at her job. Here, use this" Fury gave Fitz a thumb drive. Fitz immediately plugged it in and for some reason or another he had again control over the system. He pulled up the feed from the Cage and watched Skye sitting across from Quinn.

"Louder" Fury ordered. Fitz obeyed quickly and did what he was told.

_"Tell me, Quinn. Does it hurt?" Skye asked pointing at his bruised face._

_ "Just a little when I breath" he answered._

_ "Than maybe I can help you with that" she stood up and over to him._

Outside the Cage, in the Command Center. Fury was chanting "Don't do it, don't do it." Everyone else had no clue what was going on. Skye walked behind Quinn, who was cuffed to the steel table, put her left arm around his neck, in a chocking grip and her right hand over his face covering nose and mouth, preventing Quinn from breathing.

_"Does this help with the pain?" she asked, her voice cold and sharp._

"God damn it, she did it. I told her a million times not do that" Fury raged outside.

_"Listen to me, you little piece of shit. If you want to live another day than you will answer my questions, because this is the easy way. And you don't want to know the hard way. Understood?" _

Quinn nodded and Skye released her grip on him. She walked back to her seat and sat down in front of him. Quinn was taking deep breaths in case she decided to choke him again.

_"So, you work for the Clairvoyant?"_

_ "Yes" said Quinn, barely noticeable._

_ "I didn't hear you. Speak up, you little crap with eyes."_

_ "Yes" he said louder this time._

"Crap with eyes?" Coulson repeated.

"Romanoff. She and Barton took it upon themselves to train her" Fury explained.

"But I'm her SO" Ward interjected.

"Yeah, but two months ago when she came and told me you were Hydra I couldn't just tell her that you're not. Since both Romanoff and Barton knew about your status they offered to train her."

_"Did you ever see him, your boss?"_

_ "No, we only spoke on the phone."_

_ "Do you know his name?"_

_ "No."_

_ "Do you know why he wanted you to shoot me?"_

_ "No."_

Skye stood up and approached the man. He thought she would choke him again, but instead she grabbed a handful of his hair and slammed him as hard as she could into the table.

"You got to be kidding me" Coulson said louder than he intended.

"You know what, Ward, from now on you are the only SO for that girl. I don't need a combination between Romanoff and Barton. I have enough on my hand with the two of them. I don't need a third loony."

_"Did you change your mind?"_

_ "Yes" said Quinn, bleeding severely from his nose. Skye returned to her seat._

_ "Just that you know, everytime you make me stand up your punishment will be, well, bloodier than before. Do you understand?"_

_ "Yes."_

"_So, why did the Clairvoyant ask you to shoot me?" _

"_He wanted you to be severely injured, forcing Coulson to take you and implicitly him to that miracle drug or treatment that brought him back from the dead." Skye stood up again walking towards Quinn._

"_I'm telling the truth. I swear! Please, please don't hurt me" he whined._

"_Relax. I believe you. But you look tired" Skye said before she punched him so hard in the face that he passed out._

She left the Cage and walked back to the Command Center. Everyone was staring at her when she got there. She wanted to ask what they were looking at, when she saw the camera feed from the Cage on the screen.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know, I turned that off for a reason" she said a little annoyed.

"How many times did I tell you not to do that" Fury yelled at her. Skye just sat down on the couch.

"Violence is never the answer, Skye" Jemma started, but was cut off by Fury, who looked at her like she was the insane one in the room.

"I don't' give a rats ass about the violence. That little rich bastard deserved it. But how many times did I tell you not to conduct an interrogation without a senior agent present?"

"I don't know, a couple?" Skye asked, a little too mockingly.

"47. I told you 47 times. You know why I know?"

"I'm sure you will enlighten me soon enough" Skye continued.

Coulson could see Fury's neck vein pulse.

"Now listen to me young lady, I'm still your boss and…"

"And when you're done yelling, maybe we could talk about what I found out."

"That's it. No more missions for you young lady. For a month!"

"What?" Skye jumped up. "Oh, come on" Skye pouted.

The others just watched the two, both amused and shocked at the interaction. Coulson felt like it was time to get between his boss and the young hacker.

"Maybe we should talk about what we know so far" Coulson now stood between Fury and Skye. "Please, everybody, take a seat." After everyone sat down he too took a seat, next to Skye. If not to protect her from Fury's wrath, than at least shutting her up, if she tried to piss their boss of any more.

"So, Garrett wanted Skye injured to get to the miracle drug that saved Skye" Ward summarized.

"Yeah, bummer though. He didn't succeed" Skye said.

"I figured he would do something like this. After Ward told me about Garrett's condition and he failed to learn how we brought you back, even after he kidnapped you, I was really expecting something like this."

"So you used me as bait" Skye stated.

"No. I had no idea that he was actually planning something. If he planned it I would have at least thought that he would tell Ward. But he didn't. Now that his plan failed I'm afraid he will try again."

"Not if it didn't" Skye started, everyone looking scandalized at what she just said.

"You're kidding?" Ward asked in disbelief.

"You want to get shot?" May asked her, as surprised as anyone else.

"No. But let him believe Quinn did shoot me and I'm now in critical condition. We all know by now that the Clairvoyant isn't psychic, that everything he knows comes from our personal files. Let him read it. Let him see that he succeeded. He will come to us, thinking that we will lead him to the miracle drug. And when he comes it will slip right through his hands. Here's the plan. I will play dead, well almost dead. You" she pointed at Fury "will give Coulson a direct order to hand Quinn in for interrogation. Coulson, of course, being worried for my well being will disobey. Then you will send Garrett in to get Quinn, since he supposedly tried to catch that bastard, but never really got the chance. He will get here, with a nice arrest warrant in his hand and Coulson will tell him that I got shot. And until I'm out of any danger Quinn is not to be moved. When he finally accepts, and he will, you" she points at Agent May "will set a course for Bethesda, since Coulson's file says he was treated there. But since Garrett didn't bring Quinn in and Coulson ignored your order you will get use the automatic flight control to get the Bus to the Hub. May will be unable to break free of the tractor beam and nothing Fitz does helps either. Therefore, forcing the Bus to land at the Hub. When we touch ground Fury will order to get me off the plane and outside where none other than Thor himself waits for me to take to Asgard, where I will be healed. It won't take long than two days. During this time you will keep Quinn away from Garrett, otherwise that idiot will blurt out that he didn't shot me."

"Lovely plan, Skye" Ward talked "but there is one thing I can't really see happening."

"And what's that?"

"How are we going to call Thor?" he asked.

"That's easy." Skye took out her necklace that had a little hammer as a pendant. She brought it up to her lips and whispered something no one understood.

"I know you think we got that, but we didn't" Ward stated the obvious.

"She called Thor" Fury explained.

"How?" Coulson asked.

"He gave me this necklace with the hammer pendant. He said whenever I needed help I should just call him."

"When did he give it to you?" May asked.

"A while ago. Sometime before our little encounter with the Berserker Staff."

"What did you say? I didn't understand" Jemma wanted to know.

"I said _Thor, come. I need your help._"

"Yeah, that didn't sound like that" Fitz pointed out.

"Because it's asgardian. And yeah, I speak asgardian. And I can read. I still make a few mistakes while writing but I get better."

"When did you learn asgardian?" Coulson asked her but never got an answer. They heard a loud noise that could only be compared to thunder.

"Huh, he's here. I'll go downstairs to let him in" Skye shouted in excitement and left for the cargo bay.

"Wait. What? Let in who?" Ward asked.

"Thor, of course. That girl is a pain in the ass, but everybody seems to love her. No one can deny her anything" Fury explained.

At the word love Ward's heart suddenly ached. _Did Thor love her? And did she love him back?_

"Wait. She wants to let down the cargo ramp? She will be sucked out" Ward said louder than he wanted and sprinted towards the cargo bay, only to see Skye in Thor's arms. At the sight, Ward felt like someone drove a knife through his heart and twisted it to make it extra painful. After what seemed like forever Thor put Skye back down and she grabbed his hand dragging him after her. She saw Ward and smiled, never letting go of Thor's hand.

"Thor, this is Agent Grant Ward. He is my supervising officer" she said pointing at Ward. "Ward, this is Thor, the god of thunder" pointing back at the asgardian. Ward kept a neutral face although inside he was angry. But why was he angry. Or was it something else? He couldn't tell. Both men shook hands and Skye kept on smiling like a little child on Christmas morning.

"Come on you two. Let's go to the others." This time she took both men's hands in her own and dragged them to the common area of the plane.

"Great heaven, Philip son of Coul. You are alive" Thor said, clearly shocked at seeing a supposed dead ally.

"Well, yeah, I am."

"Thor, this are my team mates" Skye ignored what just happened and started to introduce everyone. "This is Jemma Simmons, she is our biochemist. She is my best friend, heck she is like my sister" Skye said hugging Jemma with her right arm "and this is Leo Fitz, our engineer and he is like my brother" she hugged him with her left arm "and the serious one over there is Agent Melinda May, our pilot and the toughest agent I know. A real role model. Everyone, this is my good friend Thor. Now be polite and say HI."

They shook hands and greeted each other and Skye started to explain their situation. Thor kept silent for a while thinking of what she told him. When she came to the part where Quinn wanted to shoot her, for his boss the Clairvoyant, Thor abruptly stood up and looked like a raging monster. _Almost like the Hulk_ Skye thought.

"Calm down. Nothing happened. But here's the thing. We want to deceive his boss and trick him a little."

"You mean you want to make a fool out of him" Thor stated, knowing the way the hacker thought.

"Just a little. This means when we get to the Hub you will appear with the director and take me to Asgard, don't forget to make it dramatic. You will say something like the doctors or healers there will cure me."

"I can do that."

"And Ward will come with us."

"What?" everyone asked surprised.

"Why?" Coulson asked.

"Because you want to go, but since you are a senior high-level agent you are needed here. And although you trust Thor you want me to be safe and since you can't come, the director being stubborn about it, you send Ward. Now, we need to fake a lot. Which is the nearest SHIELD medical center to Italy?"

"The one we have in Zurich, Switzerland" Jemma answered. "Why?"

"Well, since I got shot and it is pretty serious you need to get me to a hospital ASAP, right. Director we need medical entries and a chart and all that crap that comes with something like that. Than we wait a few hours, you know they need to operate and you need to find out there's nothing they can do. So when you decide to get me the same miracle juice you had it's already morning. The director and Thor will get a jet to the Hub. If anyone asks Thor is here for… who cares. You're the boss, you don't have to explain things. And the rest, you know it."


	4. Chapter 4

They wanted to say something but Skye stopped them. "It'll be alright, trust me" she just told them. May returned to the cockpit changing course to Zurich, while Coulson, Fury and Thor left for Coulson's office to have the talk about Coulson's revival. The two scientists returned to the lab, which left Ward and Skye alone in the common area.

"Ward?"

"Hm?"

"We need to talk."

She sat down on the couch gesturing he should do the same. He did so keeping his distance however. He suddenly felt uneasy, but didn't know why.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked her, a stern look in his eyes.

"Everything. I want us to start all over again. Since the most important secret, and I think it is, is out we should be able to talk freely, don't you think?" she asked, a small smile on her face.

"I guess. What is it that you want to know?"

"I want to know you. The real Grant Ward. How about this: I ask you a question you answer and then you ask me a question and I answer?"

"Sounds like a plan. You start."

"Ok. Do you mind a personal question?"

"No, go ahead."

"The stuff that happened with your brother..."

"It's true. But I'd rather not talk about it" he said seeing that she lowered her look "at least not for now. Maybe someday."

„Ok, I don't want to push. Your turn."

"How is it that you work for Fury?"

"Well, it all started during your mission with Fitz in South Ossetia. I wanted to know your status, since there was a lot going on at the Hub. So I figured something went wrong and I hacked a Level 8 server. At first Coulson was pissed but then he joined our little rebelion to get you two back. But after Coulson yelled at me, I mean for real yelled, he left for Operations and then is when Fury came to me. He ordered me to follow him and when we were in his office he introduced me to Romanoff, Barton and, check this out, Captain America. Awesome" she said gleefully. "He then explained the whole hidden enemy mess and asked me to run some diagnostics. After that he ordered me to check the entire system and well clean it. But Hydra was too well embedded and I decided to create a new system – the Triade."

"That's impressive" Ward said, proud of his rookie.

"Thanks. My turn."

"Why did you change your mind? I mean, why did you leave Hydra for SHIELD?"

"I was never Hydra. I only followed Garrett, but I never really liked all the things he did or made me do. And then one day, about five years ago, Fury saw potential in me and assigned me to different missions with different people. Some of them were Romanoff or Barton. Sometimes all three of us went together on missions. At first Garrett asked me to spy on them and ordered me to report back. Which I did. But then I got to know them better and I saw what SHIELD was really about and I started questioning Garrett and Hydra. They always talked about the greater good and stuff, but I highly doubt they care about any of that. At least not Garrett. He only wanted to get his revenge on SHIELD for failing him and at the same time finding a cure for his condition. I wanted to help him, find a cure I mean, but not at the cost of killing innocent people. So I decided to come clean and tell Fury everything. I expected to get arrested or worst, but Fury gave me a second chance. And I took it. Ever since I'm working for him. For SHIELD. And when he assigned me to this team, well Garrett did that too, but for different reasons, I felt like the luckiest man alive. I finally found a home. You all are my family now and I swear I will always protect you."

Skye felt silent tears roll down her cheeks. She was watching him as he explained, his eyes locked on a point on the wall, never leaving it. When he turned to look at her his heart skipped a beat when he saw her crying. He immediately closed the distance between them brushing the tears off of her cheeks with his thumbs, cupping her face in his hands.

„Please, don't cry. I didn't mean to..." he tried to sooth her.

"It's alright. I get it. They are the only family I ever knew. So I understand you. I'm sorry. I'm a mess."

"You ok?" She nodded. "Ok. My turn. Since Romanoff and Barton showed you a few moves, would you like to show me what you have learned?"

"Like now?"

"If you want. We could do it later, though."

"Let's do it later. My turn."

"Ok, go on."

"Are you in love with May?" Skye asked directly, although she feared his answer. On the other hand, she needed to know.

"Uhm" he started, a little surprised. He had no clue that she knew about him and May.

"So? Is that a yes or a no?"

"No. May and I just, well, it was just for the stress relief. Nothing serious" he honestly told her. "Why do you ask?"

Skye blushed, unexpecting him to ask that question. "Well, uhm, just because."

"Ok. Maybe you will tell me later about this?" he asked, smiling.

"Maybe" she answered, flirtatiously. "You know what? Let's go downstairs. I'm going to show you my moves now" she said jumping up and sprinting to the stairs. It took Ward a minute to register what was happening and followed her downstairs, a smile spreading across his face.

By the time he reached the gym area Skye seemed to have vanished. He looked around but couldn't find her.

"Skye?" No answer. "Skye?" Again no answer. "Come on, where are you?" Ward asked, his voice calm, although he started to wonder where she might have gone.

While Ward was looking, Skye managed to sneak around him and startle him, causing him to turn and throw a punch. Fortunately, the training with Romanoff and Barton taught Skye to react quickly and she managed to deflect the blow. The moment Ward saw her he tried to pull back but it was already too late. Thankfully she moved quick enough to avoid any damage to her pretty face.

"Oh my god, Skye!" he yelled. "I almost hit you."

"Yeah, almost" she said grinning. "So, are you impressed?" she asked curiously.

Ward realized that she was right. He didn't hit her. She avoided the blow. He didn't know she could do that.

"Yes, I am" he said, now smiling. "Who taught you that?"

"Nat. She used to beat the crap out of me. At first I thought you were a tough SO, but you are nothing compared to her. Wanna see some more?"

"Sure."

"Let's fight."

"I'm not going to fight you. You are not ready."

"You sure?" she asked smiling. "Want to make it interesting?"

"Go on."

"If I win, I mean if I manage to beat you, you will buy me a drink, acknowledging me as your equall" she started, but got interrupted by Ward.

"I wouldn't say equall..." Ignoring him she continued.

"And if you win, I'll buy you a drink. Deal?"

"Deal."

They started their fight, Ward deliberately holding back, but soon he realized that she was good. The training with Romanoff had really paid off. At some point she was really close to take him down. Of course, he was doing this a lot longer and knew how to avoid defeat in hand-to-hand combat. After 30 minutes of fighting he decided to end it, since he got hungry. Although, Ward had to admit she was really good. Not many Level 1 agents or in her case no agent were able to fight this long with a trained specialist, who did this several times a week. He prepared himself for his next move, wanting to kick her feet from under her. In that precise moment she had a wide grin on her face distracting him momentarily and throwing him to the ground. Losing her balance she fell right over him.

"You ok?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I win" she started laughing. Ward realized she was right. She actually managed to win this. But he didn't mind. He was actually proud of her.

"Yeah, you did. So, do you want to go for a drink now or after your surgery?" he asked mockingly.

"I think we should wait for after. That was fun. We should do this more often" she said smiling.

"I agree. Now that you know the basics we could do it as part of your training. Of course, if you still want me as your SO" he said.

"Of course I want you, Robot. I mean as my SO" she said smiling. "Uhm, I think we should get up. Someone might come in and see us, well, like this and get the wrong impression."

"You might be right. Let's get upstairs and grab a bite" he said, remembering that he was actually hungry.

"I'm going to take a shower first. You can eat without me if you like."

"It's ok. I'll wait. Besides, I need to clean myself up first. How about I make a few sandwiches and then we watch a movie until we get to Zurich?"

"Sounds great. See you in a bit" she said climbing the spiral staircase and leaving him behind.

Yet again Ward realized he was smiling. Maybe this "coming out" wasn't so bad. Up until now he had to pretend being a nice and yet reserved agent, keeping up with the cover that Garrett established for him. Since the team knew what was going on he finally could be himself around them. He just needed to remember to keep up appearences around Garrett or other agents for that matter. No one could know about his cover. Maybe now things could be better. With that thought he climbed the stairs and went to the kitchen to make the sandwiches.

"Hey, Ward" Fitz said "what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Ward asked curiously.

"With you and Skye. We saw the two of you fighting" Fitz continued.

"And she beat you" Simmons finished.

"Yeah, that. I wanted to see what she had learned from Romanoff and Barton. I got distracted and well, you know the rest" he explained.

"Everything ok between the two of you?" Simmons asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Earlier she said she almost killed you. What was that all about?" she wanted to know.

"That was when she thought that I was the enemy and I was here to hurt her family. But I'm not. And you guys are not just her family, but mine as well" Ward told them.

After hearing that both scientists jumped up from where they were sitting and hugged the specialist tightly.

"Yeah, we are. Aren't we? A family?" Fitz asked.

"Yeah, we are" Ward answered.

"Hey, guys. Mind if I join the little group hug?" Skye asked, coming out of the shower, wearing only a towel around her petite body.

"Sure" Simmons said immediately. The guys on the other hand had to swallow hard. Skye approached the group and spread out her arms, embracing Simmons with her right arm and Ward with her left.

"Hey, Ward and I were about to make sandwiches and watch a movie. Care to join us?" Skye asked FitzSimmons, never letting go of any of them.

"Sure" both scientists answered at the same time.

"Ward, how about you go and take a shower and we make the sandwiches?"

"Alright. I'll be right back."

He reluctantly let go of Skye and left to take a shower. He entered his bunk grabbing some fresh clothes and decided on his way to the shower to take a rather cold one.

Meanwhile, Skye got into her own bunk putting on some shorts and a SHIELD tank top, finishing up quickly to get to the kitchen. By the time she got there FitzSimmons already made like 10 sandwiches and Skye wondered if they expected just the four of them to eat all that.

„In case Coulson and the others want some as well" Simmons explained when she saw the hacker all confused.

"Maybe we should stop making sandwiches. If anyone else wants one we can still make it" Skye said and grabbed the plate full of sandwiches. "Fitz, could you grab four bottles of water?"

"Sure."

The three walked over into the common area and sat down on the couch depositing the sandwiches and the water bottles on the coffee table in front of them. While they argued what movie they should watch, Ward walked in, amused by his three younger team mates.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Ward asked.

"We can't decide on a movie" Simmons explained. "Skye and myself want to watch _Legally Blonde_ and Fitz wants _Planet of the Apes_".

_Figures _Ward thought and had a small smile on his face.

„How about we let Ward pick the movie" Skye suggested.

"Yeah, maybe then we could actually watch something instead of arguing" Simmons supported Skye's idea.

"Alright. You pick Ward" Fitz stated.

"Ok. Let's see. How about" he looked over their selection _"Around the World in 80 Days_?_"_

"Sounds great" the girls said.

The four of them sat down, Ward and Fitz on each end of the couch with the girls between them, Skye next to Ward and Simmons next to Fitz. They spend the next two hours watching the movie, laughing, commenting on Jackie Chan's kung fu, eating their sandwiches, simply having fun. Neither of them could remember the last time he or she had laughed so hard. So, this is what having a real family looked and felt like. Ward was happy. He finally had a little brother to joke around, a little sister he could cuddle and … well he didn't really know what Skye was, but she most definitely was not a sister or a cousin. She was more. Question was: how much more?


	5. Chapter 5

They arrived in Zurich half an hour after their movie finished. Fury ordered a special transport to the medical center, making sure that no one knew about their little game. Dr. Crane, one of the best SHIELD doctors was in charge of Skye's "surgery". She picked the few people that would assist her during the procedure carefully, trusting each person with her life. All of them knew that it was imperative that the nature of this "operation" needed to remain secret.

While Skye was in surgery, the team waited in the hall looking troubled and scared for their team mate. They had to keep up appearences, not knowing who can be trusted and who not. After five hours – Dr. Crane decided this would be about right – Skye was transferred into a room, hooked up to all kinds of monitors. Everything looked so real that by the time the team went in to see her they almost believed it. The doctor gestured them to leave the room so they could talk. They returned to the waiting area and Dr. Crane made sure to speak loud enough, but not to loud, in case a Hydra agent lurcked around.

"We did everything we could. But the bullets did a lot of damage" she started.

"What next?" Coulson asked, putting a very convincing "I'm a very worried surrogate father" look on.

"We can keep her comfortable. But you will have to decide whether or not you want to keep her on life support" she explained.

"Oh my God" Simmons let out, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You need to get her family here. Soon" the doctor continued.

"We're her family" Coulson said, his voice rather low.

"In that case, I'm very sorry" the doctor said, before leaving.

The team tried their best to make this as believeable as they could. They looked sad, confused, angry. They had all rehearsed their reactions.

"Alright, we need to get her out of here. We need to find the doctors who treated me after New York" Coulson stated loud and clear.

"But, Sir" Ward started "the doctor said there's nothing more they can do. What makes you think the doctors who treated you could do more?"

"There's a lot more to my recovery than you all know. Maybe it's time you do know what really happened. But first I'm going to ask Dr. Crane to prep Skye. We are leaving."

The others looked at each other confused, while Coulson walked away towards the doctor's office. He returned shortly telling them that they will leave Zurich shortly on their way the Bethesda.

It wasn't for long that all of them returned to the Bus, waiting for the special transport that would deliver Skye in her med pod. About 20 minutes after the team arrived at the Bus, the SHIELD tech team on the ground secured the med pod on the plane.

"Wheels up in five" May said over the coms.

After they were up in the air Coulson entered the pod alone, while the others waited outside.

"Skye?" he said quietly. He got no answer. "Skye?" Still nothing. He started worrying and approached her. The moment he touched her hand lightly Skye jumped up.

"Gottcha" she said and started laughing.

"That is not funny, Skye" Coulson said angry, but her laughter was contagious. He started laughing and could only say "Don't ever do that again."

"Ok, A.C. I'll try my best. Could you help me get out of these?" she asked raising her arms a little bit.

"Sure, here we go" he said while helping her out. It didn't take long and Skye was free of her "restraints".

"What next?" Fitz asked, from outside the pod.

"Now we go back to the lounge" Coulson answered him, gesturing for them to go ahead.

The team sat down some on the couch, others on the chairs waiting to hear about their next step.

"Director Fury and Thor left for the Hub several hours ago, right after we landed in Zurich. They should be there soon. Since we didn't hand Quinn in for interrogation Fury will give the order do that. But we will ignore that, causing Fury to send a team to take Quinn by force if necessary. He will send Garrett since we're old friends and Fury was our SO. When Garrett gets here everyone must do their part. Don't forget a lot is at stake" Coulson explained to his team.

"Will Director Fury call us, to give us a head's up?" Ward asked.

"As soon as he sends Garrett he will call me on a secure line. It won't be long before Garrett will get here. The moment we know about Garrett's departure Simmons will help Skye prep."

"One thing, A.C."

"Yes?"

"I think it would be best if Simmons would give me a muscle relaxer. I would be awake, hearing everything, but unable to move or even open my eyes" Skye said.

"Why would you do that?" Fitz asked in disbelief.

"I'm not sure I could keep up for too long pretending to be Sleeping Beauty. It needs to look real. So, can you do that?" Skye adressed Simmons directly.

"Yeah. We will wait until Garrett docks on. Than I will give you a muscle relaxer it will wear off after at least 4 or so hours. I will watch you to make sure you won't "wake up" from your coma" Simmons explained.

"That's a plan. But I wouldn't mind the company. It would be great if every once in a while one of you guys would come in and tell me what is currently going on on the Bus" Skye looked around hoping they would do that.

"No problem. We will take turns" Ward said.

"And if Garrett asks why we talk to you we will simply say that it is believed that people in a coma can actually hear what is happening but are unable to respond" Simmons offered a solution.

"Which wouldn't even be a lie" May said.

"Alright. Let's get back to work people" Coulson said and left for his office. The scientist went downstairs to the lab, while May left for the cockpit. Ward was yet again alone with Skye.

"What now?" Skye asked, smiling.

"I don't know. Let's watch a movie" Ward said, unsure what to do. He found that everytime he was left alone with the hacker he was feeling nervous. Which was odd. They had spend hours being alone before, during their training. But something changed. Then again, everything changed. The two of them sat down on the couch and started watching a movie. After 10 minutes of staring at the TV without even really watching he realized he wanted to ask something.

"Skye?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you want me to go with you to Asgard?" he asked curiously.

"Honestly?"

"I'd appreciate it."

"After I found out that you weren't Hydra, but worked for SHIELD I realized how much you had to work and sacrifice, never being able to be yourself or to relax. It will be just for two days, but it will be time off. No one will tell you what to do, no one will order you around and no one will ask you to do things you don't want to. Now if you don't want to come, that's a different thing. Do you wanna come?" she asked sweetly.

"I don't know. They might need me here."

"Grant, it's just for two days. Nothing major will happen in two days. And your not Atlas to carry the whole world on your shoulders. You deserve a little vacation. So, you wanna come with me?"

Ward's heart raced by now. He tried to think of a reason to say no, but truth was, she had him at "Grant". And how sweet did his name sound on her lips. Her lips. He momentarily dropped his gaze to her lips. They looked so inviting, asking to be kissed. To be kissed by him. Her lips started moving but he was unable to hear a sound. Only when she touched his arm he jumped out of his dream state and looked into her deep brown orbs.

"Ward" she started, he already missed hearing his first name "what's wrong?" she asked concerned.

"Nothing. I guess you are right. I'll come with you" he stated.

"Awesome. It's amazing there. And when we get there I'm going to show you my favourite spot. You will love it too, I'm sure" she said all excited.

"Can't wait. How many tomes have you been there?" he asked her curiously.

"About three times."

"What exactly did you do there?"

"Uhm, it's a very long story. But once we get there I'm going to tell you all about it."

"And maybe we could grab that drink" Ward said grinning.

"Yeah, we could do that" she replied smiling.

"Garrett is on his way" Coulson said over the intercom.

"Seems like the show is about to start. You'll come to the med pod, right?" she asked, a pleading look on her face.

"Of course, I'm going to tell you all that's going on" he told her.

Skye got up and went downstairs to get Simmons to help her prep. Ward went to Coulson's office to go over the last details of their charade. It didn't take Agent Garrett long to reach the Bus and dock on. By the time they heard the clicking sound of the jet docking onto the Bus, Simmons had already administrated the muscle relaxer and Skye seemed to be in a deep coma. Ward looked at her from outside the pod and felt his entire body tense. The sole thought that this sight could have been real, not faked, made him clench his fists. Hearing Garrett's voice he relaxed his hands and put on his poker face, not wanting to tip his former SO off. He left Skye with Simmons who played doctor, monitoring Skye's vitals (fake ones anyway) and writing everything into her medical chart, while he went to the lounge. He immediately saw Agent Antoine Tripplett, who joined Garrett's team after he left to do his undercover job with Coulson.

"Agent Grant Ward" the agent greeted.

"Trip. Is Garrett upstairs?" Ward asked, pretending he had no clue that he was coming.

"Yeah. Wow. What a ride! What did Coulson do to get such a sweet ride?" Trip asked.

"He did" Ward simply stated.

"That's tough. So, would you be so kind and direct me to where you keep Ian Quinn?" Tripplett asked.

"I'm sorry. But I can't do that. Quinn stays put until Coulson says otherwise."

"Come on, man. You worked for Garrett. You know that he always gets what he wants."

"Sorry. No can do."

Tripplett tried to walk past Ward but Ward simply pushed him away and the two agents started fighting. Before Ward could hit Tripplett any further Coulson and Garrett reached the two younger men in the lounge.

"Agent Ward, stand down" Coulson ordered.

"Son, it's good to see you" Garrett greeted Ward.

"It's good to see you too, sir."

"Agent Garrett and I came to an understanding. He will leave Quinn in our custody until we get to Bethesda and know that Skye will be alright" Coulson explained.

"Saving the girl is our priority" Garrett agreed with Coulson, pretending to care for Skye's well being.

The two younger men just nodded. Coulson invited Garrett back to his office and ordered May to continue their path towards Bethesda. Ward looked over at Tripplett for a moment and then left for the med pod. He knew that Tripplett followed him, but he didn't mind. Reaching the med pod his heart ached when he saw Skye hooked up to all those monitors. Eventhough he knew it was all fake he couldn't help the feeling that settled inside his entire body. He felt the urgent need to take her into his arms and make it all better.

Simmons walked in, to check on Skye, and saw Ward watching over her. A smile crossed her face, for she knew why he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Although before it was just an occasional thing, ever since both her team mates and friends revealed their secrets they couldn't stop looking at each other. One look longer than the other. Simmons knew that Skye had a crush on Ward ever since she joined the team. And the specialist didn't seem to be oblivious to his rookie. Although he always tried to keep a stern face when he was around her. But every so often he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face when talking to her or sometimes just watching her. But since both revealed their secret missions and all the tension was out of the way, both Skye and Ward seemed more and more glued together. The fact that Skye requested him to join her during her stay in Asgard, didn't go unnoticed. Ok, maybe Fitz didn't catch the true meaning. Skye could say whatever she wanted. Simmons knew better. She wanted a little alone time with the specialist. And frankly, Simmons thought they would make a cute couple.

"Ward?" Simmons asked quitely, trying to sound sad and worried.

"Yes?"

"I need to check her."

Simmons looked over the monitors, writing everything down. She was done in less than three minutes. She as well was more than relieved that everything in that med pod was staged. She didn't even want to think what it would have been like if Skye would have been shot for real. And then she remembered. Ian Quinn was still in his cell. If Garrett would go inside and talk to him he would learn that Skye wasn't injured. Their whole plan would crumble. She had to speak to Ward.

"Ward, could you come downstairs to the lab?" Simmons asked.

Ward immediately knew something was wrong. He followed her until they were in the lab asking her what she needed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Ian Quinn. We forgot about him. What if Agent Garrett would want to talk to him? We need to avoid the two of them talking to each other."

"You are right. Go get May and meet me in the lounge." He left upstairs to look after Skye, before meeting up with his two team mates. Tripplett was still there looking at her from where he stood. Ward didn't want Tripplett to be there. He worked for Garrett, the Clairvoyant, the man who ordered Quinn to shoot Skye. But was he really working for him? Tripplett came from a long line of SHIELD agents. His grandfather was part of the Howling Commandos, being on the front lines when they first fought Hydra during World War 2. He never seemed like the type of person to believe that crap Hydra preached. But until he knew for sure, Ward needed to keep his guard up.

"I lost my best friend last week" Tripplett said, startling Ward. "We were investigating a lead on Centepide and he died in a car explosion. I swear, if I ever get my hands on that psychopath I'm going to..." Tripplett stopped himself. "I know, not what a specialist should say or do. I guess I'm not like the golden boy" turning to Ward. "I guess I will never take your place."

Ward ignored him. He just kept looking at Skye.

"Mind if I use your gym for a little workout?" Tripplett asked.

"Go ahead" Ward simply said, without looking towards the other agent.

After Tripplett left he approached Skye's bed and leaned down next to her ear.

"I have to do something, but I'll be back soon." Ward wanted to get up but stared at her face. She had a breathing tube in her mouth, not really all the way in, just enough to give the illusion that she was unable to breath on her own. Again he felt the urge to kiss her. Unfortunately her lips weren't an option. So he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead and left to meet up with Simmons and May.


	6. Chapter 6

"What should we do?" May asked, obviously Simmons briefed her about their predicament.

"I can give him a sedative, but I need one of you there to restrain him" Simmons explained. "But we need to make sure that Coulson hasn't turned on the camera feed from the Cage in his office."

"I'll go get Coulson, telling him that you found something in his file that doesn't make sense. I will stay there with Garrett keeping him from seeing anything. You will have to hurry" Ward told them.

"That's a good idea" May agreed. "Simmons, do you have the sedative?"

"No, I'll go get it."

"Make it double. We wouldn't want that low-life to wake up to early" May added.

Simmons rushed downstairs to the lab to get the sedative. She found Fitz working on the night-night gun.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I need a sedative for Quinn" she said. Looking outside the lab she saw the agent that was with Ward in the med pod, most likely he is one of Garrett's men. "Fitz, whatever you do, make sure that this man" she pointed at the man outside the lab "stays down here until I get back."

"Why? What's going on, Jemma" he wanted to know.

"I can't explain right now. I'll tell you everything when I get back. Could you do that for me?" Fitz nodded and she left in hurry. When she arrived Ward walked up to Coulson's office.

"Sir, Simmons found something in the file you gave her that she doesn't understand. She wanted me to ask you to go down to the lab to help her with that. I think the information is classified above her level" Ward explained and could see that Coulson got the message. He was supposed to leave.

"Alright. John if you will excuse me" Coulson turned to the older agent.

"No problem, Phil" Garrett answered.

"Ward, why don't you catch up with John?" Coulson asked and Ward simply nodded. After Coulson left the office Ward approached Garrett looking over the screen in Couslon's office and was thankful when he saw it turned off.

"Son, how is your life here in this flying cage?" Garrett asked, a huge grin on his face.

"Could be better. The food is awfull. Can't wait to eat a decent steak again. What do you think? Will I be able to do that anytime soon?" Ward asked, eyeing the older man.

"If everything goes as planed than yes. After I find out how the hell Phil got back from the dead I will request you back on my service. Let's just hope the girl doesn't die before then" Garrett answered him.

Ward could help himself but clench his fists. Garrett caught that and smirked.

"Do we have a problem?" he asked.

"Shooting Skye was not part of the deal. You promised you wouldn't touch her" Ward blurted out before he could stop himself. Mentally he was punching himself.

"That was before I found out that Coulson didn't no scratch. I get you like the girl, she's cute and all, but don't forget what the mission was. And who gave it to you." Garrett's statement was definitive.

Before Ward could answer Coulson returned to his office. He dismissed Ward and resumed his previous conversation with Garrett. Ward was glad that he could leave the office, not knowing if he could have fight any longer the urge to punch Garrett. He swore silently that one day he would make that bastard pay for everything he did. And if he ever dared to even imply to hurt Skye Ward would certainly kill his former SO. Ward reached the lounge and saw May.

"Everything alright?" May asked the specialist.

"Yeah. Did you manage to sedate Quinn?"

"Yes. He will have a nice long nap" she said and turned to leave for the cockpit. She stoped suddenly and turned around. "You should tell her" she started "how you feel. But if you dare hurting her I will destroy you" she told him, piercing him with her gaze.

At first he didn't understand her statement, but then it dawned on him. She meant Skye. That was awkward. Until very recently they had a relationship, sort of, and now May was practically driving him into the arms of another woman. She was still looking straight at him and he realized he never answered her. Since he didn't really know what he felt for the young hacker he decided to simply nod, hoping that May would walk away. She could really be terrifying if she wanted to. Fortunately, May left the room, returning to the cockpit.

Ward decided to go to the med pod to stay a while with Skye. She must be really bored, unable to move are talk, but still aware of everything. He entered the pod and sat down on the stool next to Skye's bed.

"Hey, I'm back, rookie. Agent Garrett is currently entertained by Coulson in his office. The agent that came with him, Antoine Tripplett, is downstairs for a little workout, May is on the stick and FitzSimmons are in the lab. Again, they left us all alone. I had time to think about your offer, you know, to join you in Asgard. Don't worry, I'm still coming. What I'm trying to say is that I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I will sleep in. I always wondered how you could sleep for so long. Maybe now I can try to find out. And I would like us to talk. Really talk, no more secrets, no more hiding. What you say?" He looked at her sleeping form, well she wasn't really sleeping, but still. "I know, you can't answer me now. But after you open your eyes maybe then?"

He suddenly felt the plane shake. At first he thought it was because of turbulence, but remembered that they would be forced to the Hub via tractor beam. So it was nearly time.

"We changed course. We are getting tracted back to the Hub. It will all be over soon" he whispered into her ear. He heard Coulson's voice over the intercom, summoning the team to the command center for briefing. Ward pressed a kiss on Skye's temple and promised he would be back shortly. For the second time that day he kissed her. It felt wonderful. But he wondered if it didn't bother her. She was unable to move or speak. Maybe she didn't like it. He would have to apologize for his boldness later.

"Good. Now that we are all here we can start" Coulson spoke. "Since we didn't hand out Quinn and the Hub had no repsonse from Agent Garrett regarding the whereabouts of the prisoner, the Hub activated it's tractor beam, pulling us back to base" Coulson explained.

"What do you think will happen once we get there?" Fitz asked.

"We will probably send in front of a disciplinary board to explain why we ignored a direct order" May answered his question.

"Couldn't we just explain that it's a matter of life and death" Simmons started, pretending to be worried about Skye.

"We can try, but I don't think Director Fury will be impressed" Coulson said.

"Director Fury?" asked Agent Tripplett.

"Yeah, Fury is at the Hub and was really pissed that Phil here disobeyed an order" Garrett explained.

"Damn" was the only thing Tripplett could say.

"We will arrive in less than 30 minutes."

Coulson returned to his office, pretending to be very upset about this change of situation, followed by Garrett. Tripplett asked May if he could join her in the cockpit, not really knowing what to do, since everyone there seemed to ignore him.

"Only if you shut up" she said and walked out of the room. Usually, she would have dismissed him, but she needed to keep an eye on him.

FitzSimmons busied themselves in the kitchen, while Ward returned to Skye.

"I was right. Fury gave the order to tract us back to the Hub. We will be there in about 30 minutes."

For the next half hour Ward stayed with Skye telling her about some of his missions. She always wanted to know something about his work, but he dismissed her, telling her it was classified. But now he had no problem telling her. He wouldn't tell her the classified parts anyway. Just the general things. The only thing that would make this better would be Skye being awake and actually answering and asking more questions. And laughing. He realized he missed her laugh.

Before he could dwell on those thoughts he felt the plane descending. It would be long until the next step of their plan.

As soon as they touched down the cargo hold ramp opened and Director Fury himself waited for Coulson to get out.

"Coulson, what the hell?" he started. "Did I or did I not give you an order?"

"Yes, Sir, you did."

"And why did you disobey it? And more importantly, I send you Garrett to get the job done, Care to explain the delay?"

"We have a situation. You see Quinn shot one of Coulson's agents..."

"Situation, my ass. When I give an order I expect it to be followed."

"But, sir, Skye, the hacker, she got shot. She is in critical condition. We were on our way to Bethesda were I was treated after New York. Maybe the doctors there could save her" Coulson tried to explain, putting on a very serious face.

"How serious is it?"

"Very serious. The doctors in Zurich said they couldn't do anything for her. So I thought the ones who saved me could do the same for her."

"I don't think that is such a good idea" Fury started. "But maybe she could be treated somewhere else. There is someone here who could help us." Fury took out his phone and called someone, making sure that no one would hear him. Five minutes later Thor appeared next to them making his way to Fury.

"Thor, you told me that the healers in Asgard are very good. We have here a young agent that needs help, but our medical knowledge is too limited. Could you help us?" Fury asked the god of thunder.

"I could try. But I need to take this agent with me to Asgard. Where and who is this agent?"

"She is in the medical pod on the airplane, Thor" Coulson stepped forward, hoping that Thor would remember to act all surprised when seeing him.

"By the all father. Philip, son of Coul. You are alive?" Thor asked surprised.

"Yes" Coulson answered. _Home run _he thought.

"I believed you were dead by Loki's hand. How is it that you survived?"

"We have a few tricks up our sleeve" Fury answered him.

"Please Thor, if you can help please take Skye with you. She needs help" Coulson pleaded.

"I will see what I can do. Bring her to me. I will use bifrost to transport us to Asgard."

"Ward, please, go get Skye" Coulson instructed the specialist. Ward immediately went to the pod unplugging Skye from the machines.

"It's show time, Sleeping Beauty" he whispered near her ear.

He picked her up bridal style and hurried back to the others. He placed her into Thor's arms and waited for their little charade to continue.

"I can take someone with me" Thor said.

"I want to go" Coulson immediately jumped.

"No" Fury ordered. "I have a job for you. Send May or Ward, but you will stay here."

"We need May to fly the Bus. Ward, you go" Coulson told the agent.

"Are you sure, sir? What if you need me?" Ward pretended to resist.

"I think it's the best if you go, son" Garrett spoke, unaware of the trap he just stepped in to "you are her SO, so it would be only fitting that you go."

"Then it's settled" Fury exclaimed.

"Good. Agent Ward, hold onto the girl and don't let go until we get there" Thor explained. Ward only nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

The trip to Asgard was short, but intense. They moved so quickly that Ward thought they traveled at the speed of light. It made him all dizzy and unfocused. When they came to a halt Ward had to blink several times to regain focus and take in his surroundings.

"Prince Thor, welcome back" Heimdal, the guard of the bifrost greeted. "I see you bring guests."

"Yes, Heimdal. Angel needed our help. This is Agent Ward, he is of SHIELD in Midgard" Thor explained pointing at the agent.

"I greet you, Agent of SHIELD" Heimdal said. "Welcome to Asgard."

"Thank you" was all Ward could say.

"Come, Agent Ward, let's get you to the palace" Thor said.

Outside the bifrost was a carriage waiting for them. Thor motioned Ward to get in first and sit down. He then placed Skye into Ward's arms.

"I thought she would like that better" he said, a smile on his face. "When will she wake up?" Thor asked.

"Should be soon" Ward answered.

The moment Thor got into the carriage it started moving towards the city. Ward looked around to take in as much as he could. The path between Asgard and the bifrost was linked by a bridge that looked like a rainbow. On each side of that bridge was the universe. Ward felt like he was in space, which he probably was and wondered how all that could exist. The city in front of them was simply put royal. He had never seen anything more magnificent, more breathtaking or beautiful anywhere on Earth. This place was so amazing that Ward silently wondered which sport Skye's favorite was. He had no way of telling how long they traveled, but it had to be at least 15 or 20 minutes. When they finally arrived and the carriage stopped, Ward handed Skye over to Thor so that he could get out of the carriage without hurting her by accident. Once on the ground he claimed her back. Thor entered the palace and asked Ward to follow him. They climbed what seemed like five floors until they finally stopped in front of a massive wooden door. Thor opened it and motioned him to enter. The room was enormous. Ward had never seen one room that big. He wanted to put Skye down, but realized there was no bed.

"The bedrooms are over here" Thor said walking towards two doors. He opened both at the same time revealing two almost identical bedrooms. "You can choose which one you like best." Ward entered one room and laid Skye on the bed. He was wondering when she would wake up, since it was almost six hours now since Simmons gave her that muscle relaxer. He decided to let her lie down for a while and return his focus to Thor.

"Thank you, Thor. I honestly appreciate what you did for us" he said, sticking out his hand.

"It is my pleasure and honor to help Angel's friends" Thor said shaking the agent's hand.

"One more thing" Ward started saying, but was interrupted by Thor.

"The bathroom is on the opposite side of the bedrooms, over there" Thor said, pointing at a third door.

"Uhm, thanks. But that wasn't what I meant." Thor looked confused and Ward continued. "Who is Angel?" Thor pointed at Skye, who was still sleeping or under the effect of the muscle relaxer, Ward couldn't tell. "But why?"

"I think this is something she will have to answer" Thor said and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Ward looked at the now closed door and wondered what that was all about. He decided to ask Skye later when she would be awake. He went to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water, feeling all of a sudden very tired.

By the time he came back he entered Skye's bedroom to check on her, but found the bed empty.

"Did you lose something" asked Skye from behind him. He turned around immediately, being greeted by a very cheerful Skye.

"You. I thought I lost you" he replied.

"Hah, you couldn't lose even if you tried. I'm like a boomerang. No matter how hard and how far you throw me I will always come back" she said, still smiling.

"I sure hope so. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, actually. And thank you, for keeping me company while I was out and…" she closed the distance between them before she spoke again "it's not polite to kiss me while I can react." _Uh oh_ Ward thought.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"For what?"

"Kissing you?"

"Is that a question?"

"Uhm, no."

"Are you sorry you kissed me while I was asleep or better said couldn't react or are you sorry for kissing me period?"

"Uhm, the first one" he muttered.

"Good. I was hoping you would say that. Why did you do it?"

"I don't know. I felt like doing it."

"The robot has feelings after all" she said. Ward rolled his eyes. _There we go. The old Skye is fully back_. "One more thing, Robot, next time when you _feel_ like kissing me" she got closer to him, their lips only inches away "don't wait for me to fall asleep. You might be surprised what happens when I'm awake" she said in a very flirtatious voice. Ward had to grin. _So she likes playing games_.

"And what happens when you're awake?" he asked still grinning. Skye crashed her lips over his and started kissing him. It took him a moment to realize what was happening before he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer. Skye was smiling into the kiss which gave Ward the courage to try something out. Hopefully he wouldn't mess this up. This was too good. He brushed his tongue over her lips ever so slightly and a moment later her lips parted letting his tongue slip into her mouth. Skye tilted her head a little to give him more access as they deepened their kiss. They must have kissed for a very long, because when they finally stopped, needing air, they both panted, happy that they were undisturbed.

"Wow, you are a good kisser" Skye said, after regaining her breath.

"You are not so bad either" he said playfully.

"I really like the new Ward" Skye said.

"This is not the new me. It's the real me" he said, smiling from one ear to the other. "Skye, I was thinking… We should talk. There is so much I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. You know because of the cover and all. But now, that we are on the same team and our cover is blown, at least with the team, we should get to know each other. The real me and you."

"I agree. There is something I want to tell you. Or better yet show you. But I don't know if you will freak out about it" Skye said, her smile suddenly dropping.

"Hey" Ward put his index finger under her chin, pushing it up a little so that she had to look him in the eyes. "Whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it. I guess we both have things that are hard to talk about, but I want to tell you mine. If you don't want to tell me yours, that's fine. I won't push. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me. I want us to start from the beginning. What do you say?" Skye just nodded, a hint of fear in her eyes. If Ward wouldn't have known her he might not have even seen it.

"You told me you have a favorite spot here. I would like to see it" Ward changed the subject.

"Oh, you will love it. I promise. Come on, let's go" Skye tried to leave, but Ward held her by her wrist. "What is it?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"You should put something on first" he said nodding at her. Skye looked down on herself and realized that she was still wearing a hospital gown. She walked over to the closet and looked for a dress. When she found one she went to the bathroom to change. It didn't take long and Skye came out wearing a beautiful green dress. She grabbed Ward's hand and dragged him after her as they started climbing one of the palace's towers. When they finally reached the top Skye motioned Ward to look over the city. Ward was fascinated. The city looked even more astonishing from up there then it did when they entered.

"And? You like it?"

"It's absolutely beautiful" he said, still taking in the wonderful scenery.

"This is my favorite spot."

"I get why."

"Ok. Let's talk."

The two of them sat down on the bench, their backs now slightly turned to the city beneath them. They stayed there for hours talking about absolutely everything that ever happened in theor lives. For Ward this was highly unusual. He never confided this much into one person. But with Skye it seemed as natural and necessary as breathing. He told her about his childhood, about his older brother beating him and then forcing him to beat up his younger brother, about the well incident, about military school, escaping and setting his family house on fire, with his older brother still inside, which he didn't know at the time. His time in juvie and the first time he met John Garrett. About his time in the wilderness, alone with just a dog, how Garrett forced him to kill Buddy, his dog, because he was a weakness, about everything he had to do for Garrett and Hydra, until he finally decided to come clean and became Fury's spy. Which let to this moment here. Skye listened to him and was barely able to hold back tears. At first she fought them, but then she let then run down her cheeks. Ward was unable to look at her while he spoke, never seeing her tears, but the moment he turned to look at her his heart ached.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you all of that at once. I'm sorry" he tried to apologize, but Skye shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I'm so proud of you for doing the right thing. After all that crap that happened to you, you turned out to be a good man. I'm so sorry that all those bad things happened to you and I promise I will protect you, so that you never have to go back to such things ever again."

Ward had to smile. She was still his rookie. Yeah, she was better than when they started, but for her to think that he needed her protection. He could take care of himself. If anyone protected someone than it was him protecting her. But she looked so amazing when she made that promise. His heart started beating faster. The fact that she would do anything she could to protect _him_ made him feel proud and _loved_.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. But I will protect you. I will make sure that no one ever touches you."

"That's cute. But you know that I will have to protect myself at some point. Ok my turn. You already know about St. Agnes and all the foster homes I went to. I didn't leave St. Agnes when I was 18. I left just after turning 16. I lived on the streets for a while until I met Miles. He taught me a lot about hacking, but he really got on my nerves with his conspiracy theories. At that time I was a mess. I wanted to know about my parents, why they left me, I smoked weed, not to worry amounts, the occasional shoplift, until one day, after I had a fight with a guy I was dating, sort of – not Miles – I ran away. You need to know we were at the beach, not for R&R, but because we had no where to go. He always used to say _all we need is a starry sky above our heads and we can do anything we like_. Total crap. Of course, he always said that after we smoked pot. Should have known better, I know. So there we were, having another fight and I run away. I tried to get to the street but when I was about to stop a car to give me a ride back in town, my Ex called me I turned around, lost balance, stumbled backwards and got hit by a car. I woke up three days later in a hospital. At first I thought it was a dream. The room was beautiful, filled with flowers and stuffed animals and chocolates, balloons that said _Get Well _or and those were really weird and kind of freaked me out _It's a boy_ or _It's a girl_. Well after the initial shock I figured whoever brought me these bought them in the souvenir shop of the hospital. Later that day I got a visit from a woman. Turned out she was the assistant of the man who hit me with his car. Pepper Potts."

"Stop. Pepper Potts. Isn't she Tony Stark's girlfriend?" Ward asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, the same. But at that time she was just his assistant. She apologized for the ballons, but told me that Tony insisted. She told me that he would of course pay for all my medical bills and anything I might need. I just had to ask. So I asked. I asked to meet Tony Stark, even for just a short moment. I didn't want anything other than that. Well I did, but I wanted to ask him. So when he finally came, four days later, he sat down next to my bed and we started talking. He apologized for hitting me with a car and…"

"_I'm so sorry for hitting you with my car" he said._

"_Don't worry, doctors say I'll be fine. Good as new actually" she tried to laugh, but flinched when she felt a sharp pain._

"_You ok, kid?" he asked genuinely concerned._

"_Yeah, just need to stop laughing for a while."_

"_What were you doing on the street anyway?" _

"_Broke up with my stupid pothead of a boyfriend."_

"_Huh… Miss Potts told me you wanted to ask me something, that only I could help you with." Skye smiled brightly and nodded._

"_You see, I'm a huge fan. And I always wanted to ask you something."_

"_Ok, go ahead, kid."_

"_Would you like to be my first? You know in bed, my first?" Skye asked, a serious look on her face._

"What?" Ward almost yelled. He couldn't believe what she just said.

"Awesome. Tomy had the exact same face when I told him" she started laughing.

"Did you? I mean…" Ward asked, hoping she would say no.

"Of course not. I messed with him. After I told that I was just having fun he started laughing and he stayed there for nearly five hours. By the end of that day he offered me a job and a place to stay. At first I thought he was crazy, but when his driver came to pick me up the day I was released and drove me to Tony's Malibu house my adventure with Stark began."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: This one is for you DD-BB-19 for bugging me to keep writing. I hope you like it. All of you. Wow. This is my fourth chapter today. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I would love to hear your opinions, so leave a review or comment. Xoxo Cloakseeker

Skye continued to tell Ward about her time with Tony Stark, about all the things she learned and she herself was surprised that Coulson's and her path didn't intersect earlier. She also told him that about a year before he and Coulson found her in that alley she reconnected with Miles Lydon, who became a member of the Rising Tide, getting her to join as well. She did and left Stark, but always stayed in touch. Even to this day, they always talked. Only a few people understood her relationship with the billionaire. He was something like a big brother, but a fun one. There were hardly any rules and he was fun. But most importantly he loved her for herself. She never had to pretend with Tony. He didn't care if she was poor or an orphan. He was rich, yes, but he didn't have a family. And then he got Skye and Pepper. And although he still acted like a five-year-old sometimes, you could always rely on him.

"Wow, I would have never guessed" Ward admitted after she finished.

"Yeah, I know. You are actually the first that knows the whole story. The Avengers know I know Tony from before and that I worked for him, but I never told them how close we were and still are for that matter. And you are the only one who knows from our team. I'm gonna tell them too once we get back, but for now you are the only one who knows."

"That wasn't so bad, Skye" Ward told her smiling.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not knowing what he meant.

"You were so concerned earlier about your past. This is not bad. It's actually a good thing."

"There is still something I haven't told you. It is about my origin. Coulson knows because he told me. And I guess May knows too. You see twenty four years ago in a small village in… " And Skye told him the story Coulson told her, not long ago.

"Are you saying that that baby… that was you?" Ward asked, clearly shocked by what he just learned. "This is amazing. When did you find out?"

"Not long ago. It happened during the incident at the Academy, Coulson told me the exact same story I just told you."

"Is this why you wanted to return to the Wall of Valor?"

"Yeah, I wanted to see her name there. Agent Avery's. I wanted to thank her somehow for saving my life and keeping me safe, even from beyond the grave." A silent tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke. Ward brushed it away with his thumb and leaned in to kiss her. This time it was a gentle, loving kiss and Skye reluctantly pulled away. Her action immediately alarmed the specialist and he was about to apologize if he was inappropriate. Skye only shook her head.

"It's not you, it's me. There is one thing you need to see before you ever kiss me again."

"What?" Ward asked, a little worried about her statement.

"O knew before Coulson told me that story that I was different. Thor told me the first time I was here. During a training session with Romanoff, in which she totally kicked my ass something happened. Since Thor was present he immediately knew what was going on. He asked Fury to let me come to Asgard to investigate, just to be sure. So we came here and Thor introduced me to his father, Odin, who is wise and knows a lot of stuff."

"Wait. I can't follow. What happened? During your training session?"

Skye was afraid he would asked. So she decided instead of just telling him she would show him. Skye stood up and placed her right hand over her heart. A bright light enveloped her and when it faded Skye had…wings.

"Oh. My. God." Ward said while standing up. Skye took a step back, afraid he might hate her now that he saw what she really was. "Now I get it. It's fitting actually. I always knew it. But now that you have the wings, there's no doubt" Ward said, a small smile on his face.

"What do you mean? Aren't you afraid of me? Or something?" Skye asked concerned.

"What? Why would I be afraid? Thor called you _Angel_ earlier but he didn't want to tell me why. He said you would explain it better. Now I get why. You are one. I knew you were kind and good and this only proves it. Oh my god, Skye, you are an angel" he said smiling, his voice betraying his excitement.

It took Skye several minutes to understand what was happening. Ward wasn't upset or afraid of her. He accepted her right away. She was used with the Avengers, given the fact that none of them was truly, what one would call, normal. But her team was different. Yeah, she loved the Avengers, and they were kind of family. But the people closest to her heart where FitzSimmons, Coulson, May and Ward. She could live with others hating her, at least she told herself that, but didn't actually believe it. But not her family. And here she was, with Ward, who was so excited.

"You sure you are ok with this?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course, if anyone should be embarrassed or feel like a monster then that would be me. Skye I kill people for a living. You are an angel" he tried to reassure her.

"Actually, I'm a guardian. Guardians protect the realm they are born to. Since we have wings people call us guardian angels. But I assure you I can kill. I actually did it. Sometimes I went on missions with Romanoff and Barton or just one of them and I was forced to kill. It wasn't the best feeling, I'm sure you know."

"Hang on, you went on missions? How? You are not ready"

"When I'm like this, an angel, my powers increase. I'm less vulnerable and I can fight better. When I'm just Skye, well, you need to train a lot more with just Skye" she said and he had to laugh.

"We'll do. As soon as we get back we will resume our training, okay Rookie?"

"Ok."

"One more thing. Can you control this? I mean your wings, when they appear and when you want them gone?"

"Yeah, it's easy. At first I had to concentrate a lot, but in time I got better at it. Want to see something cool?"

"Sure."

"Look over there" Skye said, pointing at the opposite side of the tower, while she climbed over the edge and jumped. Ward was still looking at the other side, never noticing that Skye vanished.

"What? I can't see anything…" he started and looked to where he last saw her. "Skye? Where are you? Skye?"

"Seems like you lost me again" she said, but he couldn't see her.

"Where are you?"

"I told you to where to look."

He turned around and saw her hovering outside of the tower.

"Skye, oh my god! Is it safe?" he asked, worried she might fall. She just smiled.

"It is. I had to practice a lot to be able to do this. Check this out" she said and dropped several feet in seconds. Ward ran to the edge of the tower looking down in horror, thinking she might crash and kill herself. But instead she stopped right before hitting the ground, swirling around a few times before flying upwards with great speed, coming to a halt when she reached him.

"You just scared the crap out of me" Ward could only say.

"I figured. But I had to do it. I haven't done this in a while. It's really fun" she said smiling like a little child, who just got a present.

"Ok, ok, I get it" Ward said, now smiling as well. "Could you please come back now?" he held out his hand for her to take.

"Oh, you are no fun" she said pouting, but reached for his hand regardless. "You hungry?"

"A little bit. Wanna go down, grab a bite?"

"Yeah, but could we wait just one more minute?"

"Sure, but why?"

"Close your eyes."

"You are not going to disappear again, are you?"

"No, dummy. Trust me."

"Alright." He closed his eyes and waited. Skye took his large hand into one of hers and guided him back on the bench. He sat down and waited for her to tell him to open his eyes again. Instead he was surprised by a sweet kiss on his lips, which he returned momentarily. When Skye pulled back Ward followed her, but she put her index finger over his lips.

"I like kissing you too" she said, her voice sounding happy and light. "But I need you to open your eyes now." He did as he was told and gazed deeply into her brown eyes. He wanted to kiss her again, but Skye stopped him. "Now turn around." Again he did as he was told looking into one of the most beautiful sunsets he had ever witnessed. "This is the real reason why this is my favorite spot. Isn't it just breath-taking?"

"Yes, yes it is." He was speechless. Within two days this girl, his rookie, turned his world upside down. He knew then and there what he felt for her. Love. It had to be love. What else could it be. And it wasn't not just since yesterday or the day before that. No it had started ever since he met her. Yes, at first he felt attracted to her. But when she went to her ex-boyfriend and betrayed the team he felt hurt. Not betrayed as her SO and team mate. He felt really hurt. He knew the SHIELD protocol stated that two members of the same team were not allowed to have a romantic relationship, this however never stopped anyone. He was really angry back then. Not just at her, for her betrayal, but at himself for caring so much. But after she proved that she changed, that she really wanted that, to be part of SHIELD, of Coulson's team, he started looking at her differently again. Now that he thought about it he must have fallen for her a long time ago. Because every time they finished their training, especially, when her body was too close to his he made sure to turn away in time, so that she would never notice what she did to him. Every time they ended a session he would run to take a shower. A cold one. Sometimes ice cold to calm him down. At first he thought it was just a physical thing, but he found himself more than one time staring at her while she spoke. Either she talked about training or something SHIELD related or just jibberish he would stare at her like she whispered him the secrets of the freaking universe. And for the past months, he now realized and admitted it, he had thought about her every time he woke up, especially after a explicit dream that involved her and him on top of her or under her or behind, well any possible way actually, and he thought about her every time he went to sleep. He didn't know he fell in love. He never knew love before. Yea, he was with women before, but just for the release, not the feelings. He had plenty of sex. But when he looked at Skye he wanted more than just sex. He wanted to take her out on a date, dinner and a movie perhaps, take her back to a hotel room, the Bus wouldn't do, dance with her to romantic music in a room lit only by candles, sipping a little bit of champagne. Then he would gently lay her down on the bed and caress and kiss every inch of her body, memorizing every single bit of her. He wanted to make love to her, not just screw her. She was something that needed to be treasured, even worshiped. And he did. And he would. Unless she didn't want him to. But he would do it anyway, even from afar if necessary. Lost in his thoughts he didn't realize that she spoke to him, until she gently shook his arm.

"Hey, Ward? Anybody home?" she asked amused.

"What? What is it? What happened?" he asked alarmed.

"Nothing happened. I asked if you wanted to go down now to eat something?"

"Yeah, let's go." He took her hand in his own and guided her downstairs. "Uhm, Skye?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you keeping these on?" he asked pointing at her wings.

"No." She closed her eyes and they disappeared.

"That's so cool" he said amazed.

"Seems like I've got a fan" she said gleeful.

He just rolled his eyes but kept smiling. They went back to their quarters, where they found that someone brought them dinner.

_Maybe this can count as a date_ Ward thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Ok guys. I now changed the rating to M. I just had to. Not the change. I had to write it. You'll see what I mean. R&R. Xoxo Cloakseeker

They entered the candle lit room and approached the table. When Skye wanted to sit down Ward hurried to hold the chair out for her.

"How classy, Agent Ward" she said cheerful.

He didn't answer and took his seat next to her. They started eating their food, which he didn't know what it was, but it sure tasted heavenly. So much better than the food they had on the Bus. They also had wine and everything seemed so perfect.

„With all this" Skye pointed at the dinner in front of them and the romantic ambiance "it almost seems like a real date."

"Yeah" he said, not knowing what else to say. But he had to stop chicken out. "Would you like it to be one?"

"Very much."

"This is kind of how I imagined a date with you to be like. Except, theirs no music" he told her, remembering that he wanted to dance with her.

"Yeah, unfortunately I left my phone on the Bus. I had some music on it" she said, a little disappointed.

"Well, then maybe I can help" he said, standing up and taking out a phone out of his pocket. He handed it to Skye and she realized it was hers. "I thought you might want it. You never go anywhere without it."

"That's so sweet" she said and got up to press a big kiss on his cheek.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I thought that this would earn me a kiss somewhere else" he told her cocky.

"And where might that be?" she asked teasingly.

He pointed his right index finger to his lips and she just smiled. She leaned in and kissed him gently, pulling away for a brief moment to whisper "Thank you" over his lips and resuming their kiss. It slowly became more wild and passionate and Ward pulled her down to sit on his lap, holding her body pressed against his. He kept her steady with his left arm around her waist while the right one explored every inch of her. He could feel his blood rushing through his body and he knew that it was only a matter of time until he would get hard. When he heard her moan into his mouth he was at a loss. He pulled away knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop if their new found pass time activity would continue. Skye pouted when she lost his lips which made Ward smile.

"What is it?" she asked, a little bit concerned.

"If we don't stop now, I don't know if I'm going to be able to restrain myself from..."

"Then don't. Do you want this?"

"Yes, with every fiber in my body. But you..."

"I want this too. I know we kind of moved with the speed of light here, but I've wanted this for a long, long time. You have no idea how many times I had to _calm_ myself down after one of our workouts. Or how many times I dreamed of being with you. Even after I found out about Hydra and thought you where one of them I still wanted you and I hated myself for that."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. But if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you" she said, trying to get out of his embrace, only stopped when he pulled her back and pressed her to his body.

"I want this too. God, there are only that many cold showers a man can take before he freezes his nuts off. I swear, I never wanted anything more in my life than be with you. But I don't want just sex. You are special to me and I … care for you deeply." _Care, you love her, you moron_ Ward chastised himself. _Be a man and tell her how you feel, you little piece of chicken shit. You are a bad-ass SHIELD specialist, not a rookie. _"No. I don't care for you, Skye" which made Skye drop her gaze, but he cupped her face, forcing her to look at him "I love you, Skye. I've been in love with you for a long time now, but I was a complete coward. I should have told you. But there was never the right time. Or the opportunity. And with that whole Hydra mess I didn't know if I was going to be around much..." he was shut up by Skye's lips pressed to his own.

"I love you too." Ward felt a huge burden fall off his shoulders and a wide smile spread across his face. She loved him back. Ward couldn't remember the last time he felt that happy. He pressed his lips to hers once again and stood up, arms securely wrapped around her body. He picked her up bridal style and carried her into her bedroom, laying her down on the mattress. He positioned himself over her and they resumed their kissing session which quickly developed into a frenzy of exploring each other's body. Ward helped her out of her dress and stared at her hypnotized. She was beautiful, breathtaking beautiful and he promised himself he would savor every minute of their union. He started by kissing her forehead, her temple, her nose. He spend an extra minute kissing her now swollen lips, which made her look even more sexy. He moved on to her throat, her collarbone, her chest, placing light kisses on each, thinking that he would have to come back and kiss them a little more. He continued his exploration into the southern regions of her body, trailing lingering kisses until he reached her panty line. He stopped there breathing in her scent. Her arousal was intoxicating for him and he tried very hard to not come then and there. He wanted this to be special, to last. He felt like a virgin. He had plenty of sex. But this would be the first time he would make love to a woman. To Skye. That thought alone almost pushed him over the edge. He returned to her face kissing her deeply.

Skye was more than ready by the time he returned to her lips. She wanted to be with him so bad that his pace felt like torture. She wanted to say something, but when he looked into her eyes a moment later she could see that it was special to him. Heck, it was for her too. She was with other guys before, but this was different. None had taken this much time making her feel good. And here she was lying underneath the man she loved, nothing but love in his eyes and she couldn't help the sole tear that left her eye running down her cheek. He saw that and for a moment he must have thought that he hurt her, but when she smiled he knew it was alright. She was happy. She placed her arm around his neck, forcing him to return his attention to her lips, which he did immediately. She wanted to do something for him, but all her strength seemed to have left her body. She knew that if they were standing right now she would have fallen down, because her knees felt like jelly.

Ward kissed her wild and passionate holding her close to him. He let his hand travel along her spine, finding her bra clip. He managed to open it and let go of her just enough to discard it on the floor. He pressed a light kiss over her lips before his attention turned to her perfectly shaped breasts. He placed his lips over one breast and started sucking on it lightly, causing Skye to moan and arch her back. When he started playing with her nipple she was almost gone. He continued his exploration after a while stopping slightly at her belly button pushing his tongue inside, causing her to giggle. He then licked his way down to where her panties were and tucked two fingers on each side under the hem and pulled them down in one swift movement, surprising her. He returned his attention to her entrance breathing in her scent. She was so sweet, intoxicating that he almost lost it. He started licking her clit and pushed his tongue inside her several times. When he finally used his fingers to thrust inside her Skye came quick and hard on his hand. He had to smile, knowing that he just caused her so much pleasure. He pressed one last kiss over her very wet entrance and returned to her lips.

Skye could barely breathe. What Ward just did to her was more than pleasure. She didn't think there even was a word to describe what he did to her. It felt so good that she simply wanted, _needed_ more. When he returned to her face he kissed her hard, lust darkening his eyes. She could taste herself on his tongue and it turned her on. She needed him. Now. She needed him inside her. She felt like she would lose her mind if he didn't get there at once. She kissed him with more passion, completely lost to this new, exhilarating sensation. She knew he was ready too, she felt his manhood pressed against her thigh. What was he waiting for? And why was he still dressed. Skye used all her strength and skill and flipped them over, being on top of him now. She quickly got rid of his shirt and started caressing and kissing and licking and sucking and biting his upper body. God, he looked handsome. Skye was wondering how she ever managed not to rip off his clothes. Ward moaned happily under this pleasurable torture she was forcing him to endure and just gave in into her touch. Skye continued her assault on his body reaching his pants. She unbuckled his belt and discarded both his pants and briefs in one movement. The moment she returned her gaze to his body she saw his length majestically erect in front of her. He was big and she wondered if he would fit. _There's no turning back now_ she thought. They had to find out the hard way. Pun intended. Skye got closer and pressed her lips to his tip, which caused Ward to groan. She opened her mouth and started sucking it. At first it was slow and gentle, but she increased her paced and what she couldn't get into her mouth was stroked by her hand. She could feel him getting bigger and knew he was close. She wanted to give him the same wonderful feeling he gave her, only moments before. But he stopped her suddenly. She didn't understand why.

"If you want me to fuck you, you need to stop. I won't be able to hold back anymore" Ward said, his voice hoarse.

Ward helped her up and she laid herself down next to him. For a moment they were lost in each other's eyes, before Ward kissed her. It was a gentle, sweet kiss. The sort of kiss that said _I love you_. When he pulled back he looked her into the eyes, searching for reassurance that she really wanted this. She smiled and nodded, knowing he would never hurt her or force her to do something she didn't want. He positioned himself between her thighs and pressed the tip to her entrance. He slowly pushed inside her, not wanting to hurt her. Skye held her breath. The sensation was so intense that she just couldn't breathe. When he was finally completely buried inside her she let out her breath, along with a deep, long moan. Ward almost came when he heard her moan. She was tight, but not to tight. She was warm and welcoming and he hardly couldn't believe that he was about to make love to her. How long had he fantasized about this, how long had he dreamed about her. Too long, he now realized. And now it was finally happening.

He started thrusting. At first slowly and carefully, but when he saw the complete trust and anticipation in her eyes he quickened his pace.

It was impossible for Skye to think, let alone to speak. She could only mutter short commands for him _harder, faster, deeper_. And him being the good soldier that he was obeyed every one. Skye was close. She fisted the bed sheets in anticipation of the pleasure wave that was about to wash over her. Ward saw that and fastened his movements inside her giving her the most intense orgasm Skye had ever experienced. A moment later his own orgasm wrecked his body and he couldn't help it and collapsed over her. He had to breathe in several times before he regained some strength to get off of her. But Skye kept him in place.

"Don't go" she almost pleaded, not wanting to end this intimate moment.

"I'm heavy" he tried to argue.

"It's fine. Just a moment longer"

He kissed her, unable to deny her wish. They stayed like that for a few moments, Ward desperately trying not to let his entire body weight rest on her. He kissed the top of her head and slipped out of her, both hissing at the loss of the intimacy they just shared. He laid down next to her, pulling her into his arms his head resting on top of hers. She kept her ear close to his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat.

"I love you, Grant" she whispered.

"I love you too, Skye. You should call me more often that. I like it"

"I will" she answered, kissing the place where his heart was.

They stayed like this for several minutes before Ward realized that Skye had fallen asleep. He then let himself be overtaken by the exhaustion of the day and drifted into slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning Ward woke up long after the sun came up. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his right hand. He then looked to his left where Skye still slept peacefully in his arms. He smiled at the side. He could get used to this. He wanted to get up to start the day, but at the same time he didn't want to wake her. He knew how much she loved to sleep in. And on the Bus he never let her. Although, in his defense, they needed to train. But this was a little vacation. There was no need for them to train here.

While Ward was lost in his thoughts Skye woke up and watched him. She had a huge smile on her face, remembering last night's events. If they wouldn't be still naked and lying down in a tight embrace she would have thought that it was just another of her sexy dreams. But this was real. It really happened.

"Why the serious face" she asked teasingly.

"I'm thinking" he answered, after looking at her.

"I'm not sure that's a good thing" she continued.

"And why not?" he asked her.

"Usually you think of working out and torturing me with pull-ups" she explained.

"That's what you believe?"

"I don't have to believe. I know. You have been doing this for the past months. Every morning the same routine."

"Well then, I'm pleased to inform you that I, as your supervising officer, have decided that we won't train whatsoever while here" he said in a serious voice.

"Awesome" Skye cheered. "Since my SO won't bother me with workouts what will my boyfriend do?" she asked in a seductive voice.

"First, we haven't established that I'm your boyfriend. Second…"

"Hold up. Let's establish it now."

"Alright. Skye, do you want to be my girlfriend?" Ward asked her seriously.

"I'll have to think about it. Will you kiss me every day?"

"Yes. Will you?"

"Totally. I love kissing you. Will we have a repeat of last night, let's say at least three times a week?"

"Skye, I can't promise that. We live on a plane. Walls are thin."

"Will you try?"

"I will."

"Will you make me pancakes in the morning?"

"No. Only on Sundays. The rest of the week is completely booked with workouts, all kinds" he added grinning "and that means healthy food for you, rookie."

"Acceptable. How about ice cream?"

"What about it?"

"Will you feed it to me while we watch a movie? Or in bed?"

"I will. But not every day."

"Do you really want me to be your girlfriend" she asked a little shy.

"More than anything. I want you to be mine and I want to be yours."

"What about the others? Will we tell them?"

"Of course, they are our family. We'll tell them as soon as we get back. But you didn't answer yet. Do you want to even be my girlfriend?"

"Nothing could keep me from being your girlfriend. Yes, Robot" she said and kissed him.

After a little make out session they stopped to catch their breaths. They decided to get dressed and start their day. To their surprise, someone cleared the food from last night and brought them breakfast. Pancakes. Ward wondered if it was usual for Asgardians to eat pancakes, but Skye explained that Thor loved them and asked the kitchen staff to make them every once in a while. He must have thought they would enjoy them too. The two lovers sat down at the table and started eating.

"I was just thinking" Ward started.

"Again" asked Skye amused. Ward rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yes. Again. I was thinking of SHIELD. There are protocols that forbid agents to be romantically involved. Maybe we should keep this a secret from them. Not the team. Just the rest."

"No can do, honey" Skye started after swallowing quickly. "If anyone even thinks of breaking us up I will go all Xena-Warrior-Princess on them. And you can let a little Berserker rage out. Besides I will talk to Fury. I've been busting my ass for months keeping SHIELD save and fighting the enemy. And so did you for that matter. If Fury even starts with that crap I will quit. He can find someone else to help him."

"Nice speech, babe, but you can solve a problem by giving ultimatums" he treid to explain.

"Watch me. And it's not a ultimatum. It's fact. We both risked a lot working for SHIELD, for Fury. Besides, as long as our job performance doesn't suffer I don't get why our relationship is any ones business. And, we wouldn't be the first couple. Take Clint and Nat for example. If they can, why not us?"

"Sweetie, they are trained professionals…."

"So are you and I'm in training. And if anyone thinks that I couldn't protect myself than let them watch. I will kick ass major league."

Realizing he couldn't convince her otherwise Ward just sighed and drank his orange juice. Or at least he thinks it's orange juice. He suddenly felt Skye stare at him.

"What? Is there something on my face?" he asked bewildered.

"You know, we have been a couple for what half an hour now, we already found terms of endearment for each other and we had our first fight. If we continue at this speed we might be married by the end of the week" she said, smiling.

"Wouldn't mind" he answered causing her to cough. "Relax, I'm joking" which made her cough even harder.

"You joked? I can't believe this. You really are a different person" she stated. "But I like you." She stood up and went to sit on his lap. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

"You just like me?" he asked playful.

"I love you, Grant" she said serious, meaning it. She pressed her lips gently onto his and he returned her kiss.

"I love you too, Skye. I would like to shower. Would you mind…" Skye immediately stood up and let him go to the bathroom. "What are you doing?" he asked surprised.

"You said you wanted to take a shower. I'm letting you go."

"That's nice of you, but what I meant was would you mind joining me?" That question earned him a huge grin on her face and a little strip show on their way to the bathroom.

What usually took him five minutes turned into one hour. But he couldn't complain. He was right where he wanted to be and most importantly with whom he wanted to be. After they finally managed to keep their hand off of each other long enough to get dressed Skye asked him if he wanted to go to explore a little. Since he was curious to see what Asgard looked like he reached for her hand and the two lovers took a long walk through the city.

It was almost afternoon when they returned to the palace. Both realizing they were starving. On their way up to their room however they met Thor.

"Hello, Thor. Long time no see" Skye said cheerful.

"Greetings to you too. Did you show Agent Ward Asgard?"

"Yeah, but we decided to return. We are starving."

"Then you are right on time. Come, join me and the others on the terrace."

Skye and Ward nodded and followed Thor. They were greeted by Thor's friends when they arrived on the terrace and gestured to the couple to take a seat at their table.

"Agent Ward, these are my friends and allies. Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral and Lady Sif. My friends, this is Agent Ward, he is with SHIELD" Thor introduced them.

"It is an honor meeting you all" Ward said respectfully.

"Likewise" Volstagg and Hogun said together. Fandral only nodded.

"You look different, Angel" Lady Sif addressed Skye.

"Do I?" Skye asked, blushing slightly.

"Yes. You seem calmer" she continued.

"It it because of Agent Ward" Thor started, making Ward and Skye exchange looks. _How did he know_ Skye wondered and saw that Ward must have thought the same. "Last time when I saw her she believed him to be the enemy. It turned out that he was an ally, only pretending to be the enemy" Thor explained to the others and both Skye and Ward sighed in relief. He meant Hydra, not their nightly activity.

"Actually, Thor. There is something else. You see, Grant and I are together now" Skye said.

"We can see that" Hogun said pointing at the two.

"No I mean we are together together" Skye insisted.

"Yes, you are allies" Fandral said. Sif was smiling understanding Skye's statement, but allowed her friends to make a fool out of themselves regardless.

"They are a couple, you idiots" Volstagg finally explained.

"Yes" Skye confirmed.

"Then I think congratulations are in order" Sif said and stood up to hug Skye and Ward.

"Agent Ward" Thor said in a serious voice "you have to understand that Angel is very important to a lot of people. I think I speak for everyone here" the others nodded "when I say that if you dare hurting her you will pay with your life" Thor finished.

"Uhm, Thor. Calm down. We don't want to scare my boyfriend away. I just got him" Skye stood between Ward and Thor.

"It's ok" Ward said, placing a hand on her shoulder "don't worry. Any of you. I love Skye and I would die before hurting her or let anyone else hurt her" Ward declared.

"Good, then welcome into our midst" Thor said, now cheerful, as if nothing happened. Ward was a little taken aback by what just happened and looked to Skye for answers.

"It's ok. They tend to be overprotective. Just a heads up. You might experience something similar with the other Avengers as well. But don't panic. I'll protect you" she said teasingly and he kissed her lips for a brief moment before saying "Thank you".

They sat down and ate and talked until very late in the evening. When it was time for bed, the two lovers excused themselves and went up to their room. Once inside Ward wrapped his arms securely around Skye's body and kissed her fiercely. He picked her up, never ending the kiss, and carried her into the bedroom where they repeated their activities from the night before.

"Wow" was the only thing both could say after three rounds of passionate lovemaking. Both fell asleep in the others embrace, dreaming of more nights together to come and a bright future, filled with laughter and love.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Hey guys. I'm sorry it took so long to update. But here's an extra long chapter. I hope you enjoy it. And don't forget R&R. I love to know what you all think. Doesn't have to be much…

The next day Ward woke up early but decided to not get up. He looked down to see Skye curled up to his side, peacefully sleeping, a smile grazing her features. Ever since they became a couple he couldn't stop himself from smiling. _Whoever sees me will think I'm a complete moron. But I just can't stop smiling_ he thought. He pulled Skye closer to himself breathing in her sweet scent. _Strawberries_. The morning sun entered through the open window announcing the new day. Ward rubbed his eyes and looked to the side where Skye still slept soundly. In the morning light, covered by the white sheets she truly looked like an angel. His angel.

When Skye finally woke up almost an hour later she looked up and placed a gentle kiss on Ward's jaw line.

"Good morning, handsome" she said happy.

"Good morning, Angel" he replied, a big grin on his face.

"Not you too..." she said playful.

"What? Isn't it your name?"

"No. My name is Skye. The Avengers started with the Angel thing" she explained.

"But you are an angel. You are mine" he whispered the last part, his lips grazing hers, before finally pressing them firmly together.

"Still I would like you to call me Skye or anything else" she pouted.

"How about _Sweetheart _or _Honey_ or _Babe_?" Ward asked her.

"Only if I can call you the same in return" she answered.

"Sure, honey" he said, kissing the tip of her nose. "But your still my angel and sometimes I'll call you that" he added grinning.

"Oh, come on... alright, but only when we are alone. I don't need the others to start calling me Angel. I already have enough with the Avengers."

Ward nodded and assaulted her lips. They spent almost the entire morning in bed, until their hunger finally became unbearable. After a delicious brunch they got dressed and Skye dragged Ward through the palace.

They arrived in front of tall, wooden door and Skye pushed it open.

"Skye, are you sure we are allowed in there?" Ward asked worried they might trespass.

"Of course, we are. Not."

"Skye..." Ward warned.

"Relax. I'm joking. I've been in there before. I want to show you something. Come on."

They entered and Ward was surprised to find a rather small, circular room. It was high, yes, but small in diameter. He wondered what they where doing there but waited for Skye to explain.

In the middle of the room was a small round table and on the table was a very old looking book. Skye approached the table and opened the book.

"Come, let me tell you a story" she started and Ward had to roll his eyes.

"I'm not a kid, Skye" he argued.

"This is no fairy tale. The book is in asgardian, you won't understand it, but the images are very explicit." Ward came closer to listen to her. "Thousands of years ago every realm had several guardians. But as time passed and war always seemed to rule the ages guardians became let's say extinct. Guardians were born to every realm. Some realms had only one guardian at a time, while others many. A guardian has great power. But only his or her choices define that guardian. The power exists, but it is up to the guardian to decide if he or she uses it for good or evil. It is a guardians job to protect the realm he belongs to."

"So a guardian can decide if he or she is good or evil?" Ward asked.

"Yes and no. You see, it is more complicated. Say I'm the guardian of Midgard, Earth, and I fight to protect my people. But then some alien race wants to conquer us. I fight them. For my people I'm good, but for the enemy I'm evil. With me so far?" Ward nodded. "Of course, that's not really surprising. But there are guardians that deliberately choose to be evil and hurt not only others but also their own people. Through the centuries these guardians were banished and are now outcasts. But those of us who protect our homes fight against every evil and sometimes strong alliances are formed, like the one between Asgard and Midgard."

"What do you mean?"

"When the Black Elves attacked Asgard Thor asked me to help. So I did. Remember that week Coulson gave me a few days off. I asked Director Fury to help me with the tracking bracelet so that no one knew I was gone."

"Wait. Are you saying you were here when Asgard was attacked?" Skye nodded. "The same time Thor jumped through worlds?" Skye nodded again. "The same battle that ended in Greenwich?" Skye nodded yet again. "You really fought those aliens?"

"Yeah. I had to. Thor is my friend and he needed my help. I'm a guardian and it is my job to protect. And before you say I belong to Earth, yes, it's true, but once Asgard fell Midgard would have been next. And we are not even remotely close to fight back such enemy force. Yeah, the Avengers did a great job in New York, but the Chitauri forces back then were nothing compared to what is out there. I only know from books and from what Thor told me. We need Asgard to help us. So I decided to help them when they needed me most" Skye calmly explained.

"Aren't there other guardians on Earth?" Ward wanted to know, hoping she would say yes. He hated the thought of her being in danger. Especially when he couldn't help.

"Not as far as I know. Some guardians are born others become guardians. But none other has made an appearance."

"What do you mean they become guardians?"

"I don't really know. Thor told me that. I still have a ton of books to read about it on the subject. Come on, let's take a walk."

They left the room and headed towards the palace's garden. For a while the couple just walked hand in hand in complete silence, each lost in his own thoughts.

"Is there a way for me to learn asgardian?" Ward asked suddenly.

"Why would you wanna learn asgardian? Aren't six languages enough for you, Super Spy?" Skye asked teasingly.

"I want to read about the guardians, to help you" he answered serious, meaning it.

"You really want that?" Skye asked, her eyes practically sparkling.

"Of course, I want to help you. And maybe then I can understand this whole thing better. And besides, two pair of eyes are better than one, don't you agree?"

"Totally. Aw, you are the sweetest boyfriend ever" Skye said jumping into his open arms.

He held her for a while kissing her passionately. He loved seeing her smile and silently vowed to make sure she would always have reasons to smile.

"Excuse me" Thor interrupted them.

Ward let go of Skye and she turned around to greet the Asgardian.

"Oh, hello Thor. What up?"

"We need to talk. Would you come with me? Both?" he asked.

The two of them followed Thor inside the palace walking through several hallways until they finally reached their destination. Thor opened the door and revealed what seemed to be Asgard's library.

"You wanted to read more about guardians" Thor addressed Skye.

"Yeah. But please tell me I don't have to read all the books in here. It will take forever to finish" Skye complained.

"No. I already picked out the ones on guardians, but they are still a lot. Are you sure you can handle them?" he asked worried. Thor knew that Skye desperately wanted to know more about guardians, but wasn't sure if she could handle it all by herself.

"I could help her" Ward interjected.

"Can you read our language?" Thor asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"No. But maybe I could learn. Are there any books that might help someone who's not Asgardian to learn the language?"

"Not really. Except..." Thor turned away from them and climbed a staircase to reach the upper level of the library. He returned a moment later with a very thick book. "Here" he said handing the book to Ward "we use this book to teach our children to read. Skye can help you with it. She already knows to speak, read and write asgradian" he turned to Skye, who nodded smiling.

"Thank you" Ward said, shaking Thor's hand.

"You're welcome" Thor replied. "I think it's better anyway. Angel obviously chose you as her mate, so it's only fitting you know her."

Ward nodded and turned his gaze to Skye who had a subtle blush across her face. Thor gave Skye the books she had requested and invited the two of them to join him and his friends in the training area of the palace.

Ward took all of their books and walked behind Skye who started talking to Thor.

"So, have you practiced since our last meeting?" Thor asked.

"A little. I wasn't really able to fly a lot. But as for the other powers..." Skye started.

"Other powers?" Ward asked, startling Skye.

"Uhm, yeah. Ok, I will explain it to you. Let's just get to the training area" Skye said.

They arrived there shortly, finding Volstagg and Fandral fighting, while Sif and Hogun commented on their fighting techinique.

„Would you mind if we joined?" Thor asked and all of them turned to see the newcomers. Seeing his opportunity, Fandral attacked Volstagg, who momentarily got distracted, and managed to defeat him.

"Hey, that wasn't fair" Volstagg protested.

"You never lose focus during a fight, no matter the opponent" Fandral told him gleefully.

"Angel, are you going to train with us?" Sif asked her.

"A little. But before that I need a moment to talk to Grant" she answered, turning to Grant. "Come on, let's take a seat over there" she pointed at a bench far away from the training area to be out of earshot.

"So, what's this all about?" Ward asked her.

"Other than flying I have other superhero powers. Like..." she swirled her finger and one of the books started hovering. Ward looked at it amazed and turned back to watch Skye. Skye set the book back on the pile and returned her gaze to Ward. "Or this" she said opening her palm and a small ball of light appeared.

"What is it?" Ward asked, stretching out a finger to touch it.

"NO!" Skye said, startling him. He looked up at her concerned, but saw her smiling and knew she tricked him. "I was kidding. It's save. Touch it if you like." Ward touched it and felt warm, and happy and... lighter.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"It's energy. My energy. I don't create it, I just extend it. So far it's all I can do. It's more like a flashlight, if you ask me. But I read that some guardians can concentrate their energy and actually use this as a weapon. But I'm far from it. It took me like forever to be able to do even this little trick. I need to stay focused and so far it only works if I look at it. Thor said that if I practice long enough I would be able to do both without looking. But I'm still far from it."

"That's amazing nevertheless" Ward assured her. "But if you are still training your powers, how were you able to fight alongside Thor and his friends against the invaders?"

"You'll see. There is a chamber here in Asgard where Thor took me to train. I spent almost five months there before the attack."

"Hang on. That's not possible. You were with us on the Bus. You never left for more than a couple of days. How?" Ward asked her surprised by her statement.

"It's a special chamber. Once inside time passes differently in there. Outside time passed at a normal speed, while on the inside it was faster. We experienced almost five months in there, while the others outside waited only 20 minutes for us to come back. With me so far?"

"I think..." he said clearly confused. "So you actually spend a lot of time with Thor in that chamber. Alone."

"Yeah. At first it was hard, but it got better. And don't worry" she said, knowing what he meant "I was a good girl" and sat down on his lap, cupping his face in her hands. She leaned in and kissed him firmly. "And then there is another power" she resumed. "Think of something I don't already know about you. But nothing you don't want to share."

Ward didn't understand but did as he was told. He closed his eyes and thought back about things she might not already know about him. He smiled when he remembered something. He opened his eyes and nodded. Skye placed her hand over his and closed her eyes, just like she did on the Bus two days earlier. When she opened it she smiled.

"You heard us, when FitzSimmons pretended to be big bad-ass Agent Grant Ward, right before the whole mess with the chitauri helmet" she stated.

"How did you know?" Ward asked surprised, but remembered he kind of told Simmons he knew about them making fun of him. "Simmons told you" he added, smirking.

"No, you did. Your mind did" she explained.

"What? You can read my mind?" he asked dumbfounded.

"More or less. Only when I touch you and concentrate really hard. You see when I touch you while I'm very emotional, like I'm angry or overly excited I hear a million and one things. It's almost impossible to focus on one thing, especially if you are not focusing on something specific. Don't worry I never did that to you. Well, I did. Once. After our covers were blown. Remember on the Bus? When I said I believed you?" He nodded. "I could sense you were telling the truth. You see, I'm not just reading minds but I can see your memories and feel what you feel. Or at least I will be able to, one day. I couldn't practice this power at all while on the Bus. No matter what I thought about you, I couldn't invade your privacy. After I learned that you were Hydra I tried. I was frustrated that Fury didn't believe me when I told him you were the enemy. He just dismissed me. So I figured if I can read your mind maybe I could prove to him that you were in fact a traitor. Since I had no clue about the truth until two days ago I guess you understand I never managed to read your mind. But that's going to change" she finished.

Ward listened to her and could hardly believe what she was telling him. By now he should have be used to such revelations on her part, but it shocked him anyway. _Wait what? Things will change_ he thought.

"What do you mean with things will change. Do you intend to practice on me?" Ward asked concerned.

"Yeah, but nothing big. Like think of a sentence I will try to read it. The purpose of me learning to read minds is not just to be able to read them but more importantly to not to. I need to be able to block out your thoughts, everyone's. I don't want to spy in you. But it's a helpful skill. Not every guardian can do that. And you know what the coolest part is?" she asked enthusiastically and he shook his head "once I'm able to focus I can talk to you and you can answer me. Which means we could communicate without comms. We could talk to each other without fearing that someone might hear us."

"That would be cool" he started. "Can you do this with everybody?"

"I can try, but according to my readings it only works if I'm connected to the other person. Like emotionally connected. And I love you so much that I have no doubt this will work for us. What do you say?"

"Sounds great. Is there anyway I could help you?"

"I told you, I need to practice. Like you think of something and I have to guess or rather read your mind correctly. But we will get to that. You wanna see your girlfriend seriously kick some asgardian ass?" she asked standing up.

"Sure, but be careful, I don't want you to get hurt" he said standing up as well.

"Don't worry, I won't. Come on. Let's go to the others."

The two lovers joined the Asgardians and Skye left to get a sword from one of the tables at the edge of the room. She returned holding a rather large sword in her right hand and Ward had to wonder how she figured she could fight with that. That sword looked almost as big as Skye herself and he had to smile, secretly thinking she will be the one to have her ass kicked.

"Don't think that's true she said" looking towards him.

"Did you just read my mind?" he asked in disbelief.

"You practically yelled it" she answered grinning. "So" she turned to the others "who wants to get his ass kicked?"

The four asgardian men started laughing and Lady Sif took a seat next to Ward, intending to watch rather than fight.

"You seem concerned, Agent Ward" she said, keeping her eyes on the training area.

"It's Skye. She seems confident that she could defeat them. But they are all taller and stronger than her. I just don't want her to get hurt" he said, sighing heavy.

"Don't worry. None of them would ever hurt her. She is like a ray of light every time she is here. They all adore her. And even if they wouldn't be this considered I have seen her fight with my own eyes. She might seem defenseless, but she is a true warrior, worthy of her title."

"What title?" Ward asked curious.

"After she helped defeat the enemy Odin honored her. She is known to every Asgardian as Lady Angel, the Fearless, Guardian of Midgard and protector of the Alliance."

"Wow. I never knew. Alliance? You mean between Asgard and Earth?"

"Yes. You are a lucky man, Agent Ward. Not few Asgardians asked Odin if they could marry her. Of course, Odin explained that she is not of Asgard so he has no say in that matter. But I could see how much she loves you and when she thought you were a traitor she suffered immensely. I am glad that you are not and that she is happy now. She deserves it. But be warned, if you ever hurt her again, whatever Thor intents to do with you will be nothing compared to what I will do."

Ward swallowed hard. For one he was glad that Skye had such good and trusted friends, on the other hand though he started fearing for his life.

"Don't worry, honey. I know you will never do that" Skye shouted. He had to smile. She did it again.

Skye picked Hogun to fight first. They started rounding each other but quickly decided that an attack would be more fun than just dancing around. Ward was surprised to see how easy Skye maneuvered the sword, even though it seemed too big for her.

"I trained with her for hours before she could even hold that sword up" Thor said taking a seat on Ward's right side. "Did she tell you?"

"Yes, although she didn't tell me what the training was all about."

"We practiced sword fighting, throwing spears, archery and sometimes I would see how long she could hover or how fast she could fly. I believe she told you about her abilities?"

"Yes and I will practice with her once we get back."

"Do that. She always talked about you when she visited. She admires you greatly. I felt so angry when she told me you were the enemy and that Director Fury didn't believe her. All I wanted was to hit Fury in the head for being stupid for not believing her and kill you. But the Director explained the situation to me once I talked to him. Luckily for you, I went to see him first" he looked over at Ward, seeing the man tense up. "Don't worry, everything's alright now. And if she says you are a good man than that's good enough for me."

After that they all kept quiet watching Skye fight with Hogun. The fight lasted over a half hour. Sometimes it seemed like Hogun was winning, others that Skye had the upper hand. In the end they decided to call it a draw and left the training area to prepare for supper. Ward took their books and left with Skye for their room. While Ward prepared everything for their departure later that evening, Skye took a short shower, returning to the living room ten minutes later.

"Did they scare you a lot?" Skye asked, a wide smile across her face.

"Nah" Ward pretended it didn't bother him.

"I know they can be like that. They mean well."

"I know, sweetheart. I don't mind. I'm actually glad you have such good friends that look after you. But rest assured I would die before I hurt you. I love you, my angel" he said placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too. Come on. They probably are waiting for us. Too bad our mini-vacation will be over soon" she said pouting. Ward couldn't hold back a laugh and kissed the corner of her mouth.

Supper was rather to short, since Skye and Grant were supposed to travel back to Earth. After eating and saying their goodbyes Thor let them to the bifrost where Heimdal opened a portal to Midgard. As soon as they stepped inside they were transported at a incredible speed back to Earth. Once they reached Earth both were thrown down by the gravitational pull. It took them several moments to get on their feed and look around. They landed on their home base, where the Bus was parked, waiting for them. Ward picked up the books in one arm and placed the other one around Skye's shoulder.

"Displaying ourselves, huh?" Skye asked smiling.

"Of course, everyone should know you're _my _girlfriend. You are off limits" Grant said, pretending to be a jealous and possessive boyfriend.

"Chill, Rambo. I'm not going anywhere" she leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I know. But I know how guys look at you. You are hot. And you are all mine."

"First of all, wow a genuine compliment, not a comment, from Agent Grant Ward, second thanks for calling me hot and third, yes I am yours. Just as you are mine, baby. Come on. Our family must be worried sick."

They both walked the short distance to the Bus, excited to see the team again and tell them their good news. Both felt incredibly happy and wanted to share this happiness with the people they loved the most.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N. I know that for the past few chapters there was a lot of SkyeWard fluff. What can I say? I just love this shit. I promise I'll try to get back on track with the whole Hydra-fighting part. And I will probably get the Avengers to make an appearance. So stay tuned for our next episode

Skye and Grant reached the cargo hold and entered. The lights were out, only a few screens in FitzSimmons lab spreading a little light. The two of them climbed the spiral staircase to get to the common room. They could hear voices, but didn't recognize them at first. Skye entered the room quietly and saw her team mates sitting on the couch watching _I Am Legend_. She glanced up at Grant and put her right index finger to her mouth. He understood and put the books on the floor as quietly as possible. Then the couple approached their team mates from behind and startled them, just in time when the zombies started attacking Will Smith's dog in the movie. All of them were so scared that they jumped up and screamed. Even the ever stoic May let out a shout. When they realized it was only Ward and Skye they hurried to hug them.

"Oh my god, you are back" Simmons said excited, while hugging Skye and Grant at the same time.

"When did you arrive?" Coulson asked, coming around the couch and stretched out his hand to Ward. Grant shook his hand and answered. "Just now."

After they all hugged and greeted each other, everyone wanted to know everything about their trip.

"Stop, one at a time" Skye said holding up her hands in front of her. "But before that" she grabbed Grant's hand "Grant and I have something to tell you" she started. "We are together. I mean, we are a couple" she added quickly, remembering a similar situation on Asgard.

"Told you" May shouted grinning. "You owe me fifty bucks, Phil" she said stretching out her palm. Coulson reluctantly took out his wallet and gave her the money.

"I think that goes for you too Fitz, fifty dollars please" Simmons said. Fitz gave her the money, while pouting.

"Could somebody explain?" Grant asked, curious about his team mates behavior.

"You see we had a bet…" Simmons started.

"I said that you would not tell us about being a couple" Fitz continued.

"While I said yes you would, right away" May finished.

"What?" both Skye and Grant asked in disbelief. Their team mates had a bet on whether or not they become a couple and if they would share that information.

"So Simmons and May…" Skye started but got interrupted by Simmons.

"There was no question if the two of you would become a couple. We had that part figured out. At least some of us" she said looking at Coulson.

"What? I knew they liked each other, but after all that happened. I don't know…" he said.

"Anyway" Simmons continued "May and I said that you would come clean about your relationship right away, while Fitz over here said no way. You would keep it secret for at least another month."

"Easiest money I've ever made" May just commented.

"I'm happy that us being a couple brings so much joy to our family" Grant said and they all started laughing.

"But there are protocols" Coulson started explaining.

"Coulson, stop. I don't want to hear about protocols" Skye said seriously.

"But" he tried to start again.

"Don't even try. We already talked about this. Well, she talked, I listened, but I have to agree. We won't keep it secret. We will tell Fury right away. He needs to know. I love Skye and I want to be with her and if he wants to stand between us we will both quit our jobs" Grant told them. He wouldn't let anyone get between him and Skye ever again. He would never let her go. No matter what. Unless she would ask him to.

"I agree. Besides, as long as we do our job there's nobody's business what we do with our private lives. We won't go around and tell the whole world about us, just the people we care about" Skye supported him.

"Are you sure?" Coulson asked, an eyebrow raised. "I mean you are messing with the Director here."

"Yeah? Let him try to break us apart. I'm more than capable of kicking his ass. Just let him try" Skye said huffing.

"Calm down, sweetheart. I won't let that happen" Grant tried to calm her.

"Aw, how sweet you are. You are the cutest couple ever" Simmons said gleeful.

"Maybe we should forget about this now. We will cross that bridge when we get to it" May told them. The others nodded in agreement.

The team spent the next hour talking or rather listening to Skye and Grant about their time in Asgard. What Grant was really interested in was his former mentor.

"Tell us what happened after we left" Grant asked Coulson, knowing that he would have the most information on the subject.

"After the two of you left a two men team got Ian Quinn to the Fridge. Fury went himself to interrogate him, since we still had to avoid Garrett talking to him. Although I don't think John really cared about that rich slime ball. After all, he was in custody and John couldn't use him anymore. Fury ordered that Quinn should be taken to the Fridge. Thanks to your program, Skye, Fury was able to replace the Hydra agents there with our own. He _promoted_ them and transferred then either to the Hub or another big SHIELD facility. This way it looked innocent enough. After Quinn was send to the Fridge Fury asked Garrett to look for the Clairvoyant, use all the resources he needed. He actually said if there really was a person out there that could read our minds, than SHIELD needed to contain him. Of course, Garrett accepted this task and took off. Which reminds me, Fury wants to see us in about two weeks from now. Until then we got a little R&R, but aren't allowed to leave the base. We can go shopping for supplies, but not like on a real vacation or anything" Coulson summarized what had happened during their absence.

Since they never got to finish their movie, Fitz suggested they should just watch it from where they paused it. Skye and Grant joined the team. Since there was no more free space on the couch Grant took a seat on one of the armchairs behind the couch and Skye just took a seat in his lap.

"You sure you two are comfortable over there?" Coulson asked in his "she is like my daughter and I don't want any man touching her" voice.

"Leave them be, Phil" May berated him. She turned off the lights and took a seat next to him on the couch, while FitzSimmons sat next to each other enjoying a new bowl of popcorn.

While the others were absorbed by the movie they were currently watching, Grant found he couldn't resist the urge to kiss Skye. The two of them started making out like two teenagers in a movie theater, while hiding from their parents. After several long minutes of kissing passionately Grant stopped looking into her eyes.

"I love you, Skye. I didn't' know I could love anyone until you and now I don't think I could ever love anyone besides you. You changed my whole life. For the better and I will thank you for that for as long as I live."

"I love you too, Grant. More than you think. Before we got together I always tried to keep my emotions and feelings at bay, but now… look at my, they are all over the place. I don't know what I would do if I would ever lose you."

"You won't, sweetheart. I promise. Before you I only knew pain and sorrow and then missions. Honestly, I never gave a damn if I lived or not. When I switched sides my only goal was to defeat Hydra, to redeem myself. That's what I was working for. That's what I was living for. But I felt empty. Ever since you came into my life the only thing I could think of was you. I wanted to be better, a better agent, a better man, for you. I wanted to be able to look you in the eyes, without feeling ashamed. And every day I loved you more and more. I see that now. I tried to deny it, I tried to fight it. But Nat was right. She was the first one who really told me to my face that I had fallen for you. And I don't think she even knew you then. You came into my life like a hurricane, but made sure to not leave. I swear as long as I live I will love and protect you" he finished by placing a gentle kiss on her lips, sealing his declaration of love with that.

"Oh my god, Grant. That was the most romantic, sweetest, cutest thing I've ever heard. Who would have known that the T-1000 that wanted world peace was such a romantic dork. I love you so much" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his once more. When they parted Skye snuggled into his embrace and let him rub her back soothingly.

It wasn't for long until she fell asleep. He got up gently, making sure he wouldn't wake her up in the process and carried her to her bunk, he tucked her in and went to his own bunk. He closed the door and changed into his sleeping clothes. He laid down and tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. Something wasn't right. He missed her. She was only a few foot steps away and he missed her terribly. He waited for the others to go to bed as well and then sneak out to get to Skye. When he decided that the coast was clear he opened his door and slipped out. He tried to sneak into Skye's bunk, but was startled by Coulson who was looking amused.

"May I ask where you are going?" he asked the young agent.

"Uhm…" Grant didn't know what to say.

"I know she is not my daughter, but I love her just like one. If you ever dare to hurt you I will teach you what it means to suffer."

"I understand. But, sir, I can assure you I would die before that. And I would kill anyone who would ever try to harm her. I give you my word" Grant said, keeping a stern expression.

"Good. And Grant, Skye isn't the only one I care for. I care for you too. But she's our baby girl and we all want to protect her" Coulson said looking at the bunk where Skye was currently sleeping.

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot." Grant wondered if he should ask or not and decided that it would be better to be honest with his boss. "Sir" he started, Coulson only muttering an "Uhm" which made Grant swallow before continuing "would it be ok if I would sleep in Skye's bunk. I mean with her. Not sleep as in you know, but sleep. I tried to fall asleep in my own bunk, but frankly, I miss her. I know it sounds crazy, but I just couldn't fall asleep…" Grant wanted to continue, but stopped when Coulson raised his hand.

"I understand. But no… midnight activities, if you understand" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, sir. I promise" Grant answered quickly, keeping his stoic expression, but rejoiced inside like a little child.

After Coulson left for his own bunk Grant opened the door and slipped inside Skye's bunk. It was dark and he tried to get inside her bed without waking her up. He laid down and wrapped his arms around her frame pulling her closer to his chest. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek from behind her and whispered "Sleep well, my angel".

"You too, robot" she answered.

"You awake?"

"Yeah. I heard you and Coulson having a midnight chat. Was kinda cute. Although you shouldn't have made that promise."

"What were you expecting? I couldn't just not promise. Besides, he only said midnight activities. Midnight only lasts one hour" he said smiling wide.

"You old dog. I never thought you had it in you" she said and turned around to face him. She placed a kiss on his lips and sighed happily. "But I think tonight will be just for sleeping. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, I'm tired too. Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll start training again" he said seriously, expecting her to jump up and protest.

"What?" she almost shouted. _Gotcha_ Grant thought and smiled to himself. "You can't be serious?"

"Yes, I am and try to keep your voice down. We don't wanna wake the whole Bus. And if you stop pouting, yeah, I know you are even without any light in here, I meant that other training. You know the reading stuff" he explained.

"Oh, now I get it. Ok, you really got me there" she said, now much calmer.

"I know. Come on. Let's get some sleep. I love you, baby. Sleep well" he said kissing her temple and tightening his grip on her.

"I love you too, honey. You sleep well too" she kissed his chin and snuggled closer into his embrace.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N. So I know I was kinda lazy with the update. Had a lot of stuff to do work. Boring but totally necessary in order to get my pay check. Anyway, here's the latest on my SkyeWard ff. I hope you enjoy it. And like always, I'm excited to hear from you.

As usual Grant was the first to wake up but decided to let his girlfriend sleep a while longer. He just laid down enjoying this peacefull time thinking about his new life. He felt so much better now that the team knew about his mission and that Skye was his girlfriend now. _Girlfriend_ that sounded so strange and so right at the same time. He looked at Skye who was still sleeping and wondered what their life would look like in the future. He never gave much thought to the future, but ever since they became a couple he wished for more. For everything they both never had. A real family. Yes, they had the team and they were their family, but Grant couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a family of his own. With her. He closed his eyes and thought about it. It would be nice to settle down, somewhere quiet and peacefull. They would have a house with a wooden fence. Maybe they would get a dog. Like the one he had all those years ago. He felt a pain in his heart thinking of Buddy. Garrett forced him to kill his dog. Grant suddenly felt rage and hatred towards his former SO.

Skye felt Grant tense up and opened her eyes. She looked up and saw his troubled features. She lifted her left hand and touched his cheek gently. Grant opened his eyes and immediately relaxed into her touch.

"Bad dream?" she asked worried.

"Bad memory" he answered vaguely.

"How about a nice memory?" she asked pushing herself up and placing a kiss on his lips.

"Hm" was the only sound he made.

"Better?"

"So much better. Did you sleep well?" he asked caressing her cheek.

"Like a baby. Promise we'll sleep every night together." He smiled.

"I promise. Not even Coulson could keep me away from you, baby. Come on, let's get up."

"No! Let's stay here for a little while longer" she protested.

"Honey, I thought we agreed that we would start training again."

"You agreed. I was merely informed."

"Come on, lazy."

"Alright, alright. Do I get another kiss before that?"

"Not just one, a lot" he answered and kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her nose and finally placed a lingering kiss on her lips. "Come on now."

They got out of the bunk and walked hand in hand to the kitchen. Skye wanted to get herself some cereal but Grant insisted she should take a seat on one of the kitchen stools. He prepared a bowl of her favorite cereal and made himself a sandwich. He joined Skye taking a seat next to her and they enjoyed a nice breakfast just in each others company.

"So, where do you wanna go and practice?" Grant asked her.

"Before we start however I want to do something" Skye replied.

"You are not getting out of this" Grant warned her.

"I'm not trying. But I think we should tell the others first. You know about me and my abilities. I don't want them to freak out" she explained. Grant thought about it and that made sense. Although the mind reading thing wasn't something the team would register right away, the other things she could do however weren't exactly easy to hide.

"You are right. When do you plan on telling them?"

"I thought the sooner the better. Would you mind go and call Coulson and May, while I get FitzSimmons?" she asked.

"Sure. And Skye" he wrapped his arms around her waist "it'll be fine. I'm right here" he said and placed a kiss on the top of her hair. She sighed and let go of him, walking down the stairs to the lab to get her friends.

Grant went to get Coulson first. He climbed the stairs to his office and knocked on the door.

"Come in" he heard Coulson say and opened the door. "Oh, good morning, Ward. How can I help you?" he asked. To Grant's surprise May was having coffee with their boss, which made his job easier.

"Skye has something she wants to share with the team and asked me to get you two."

"What is it?" Coulson asked curiously.

"She's not pregnant, is she?" May asked raising an eyebrow.

"What? No." Ward answered immediately. _At least I hope not_ he then thought. "Just come down to the common room and you will see." He left the office and headed back. The two senior agents looked at each other confused and decided to follow him.

Once everyone was present Skye started telling her story. Coulson and May looked shocked when she started telling the others about China and her being an 0-8-4. The scientists were very surprised to learn all those things about their friend, Ward however seemed calm, which made Coulson conclude that Skye already shared this information with him.

"Hang on" Fitz started "are you telling us you were that baby?"

"You are an 0-8-4?" Simmons asked in disbelief.

"Yes. But there is more to it. Coulson and May knew about this. A.C. Told me this story during our mission at the Academy. I told Grant during our stay in Asgard. But there is something you still have to learn about me. It might freak you out. But I promise I won't hurt you."

They all looked confused and wondered what else she had to say. Skye took a step back, far enough from her team to allow herself room to change. She placed her right hand over her heart and closed her eyes. A moment later she was enveloped by a bright light and when it faded Skye had her wings. Everyone, except Grant, looked at her in awe. Their jaws practically dropped and they were unable to utter even one word. May was the first to talk again after the big revelation.

"Are you an angel?" she asked, clearly conflicted to even think of something so absurd as angels.

"Not really. You see I'm a guardian and..." Skye explained her role and her powers to the team. They spent the better part of the day talking about it and after a while they all assured Skye that she had nothing to worry. They loved her for who she was. And frankly having a guardian angel on their team was pretty cool, like Fitz said. Skye demonstrated what she could do and they all looked amazed.

For the next days the team got quickly accustomed with this new situation. They still freaked out a few times when suddenly something floated around, but it got better. After the first few days back Grant decided that it was time to train again. Just like Skye told him as just Skye she wasn't strong enough and while she could easily turn into her guardian-self the transformation itself was draining her of energy. Besides she wanted to be a SHIELD agent and most SHIELD agents (well none) didn't have powers. She needed to be prepared. Thanks to her previous training with Romanoff and Barton Skye was much better than before.

The two weeks R&R quickly passed and the team prepared to meet Fury. It was the morning of their meeting and Skye poured coffee into two mugs. One was for her and one for Grant. They decided to spent as much time as possible in her bunk. While Grant read a book, _The Hunger Games_, like Skye suggested, drinking his coffee, Skye checked her program to fix bugs and other hacking stuff Grant didn't understand.

"Fury will arrive in ten minutes" Coulson announced over the comms.

"Come on, honey" he said standing up and grabbing her hand. He helped her up and kissed her quickly. They got out of her bunk just before Fury stormed in, followed by the Avengers.

"Tony!" Skye shouted and launched herself into Stark's open arms.

"Sweetheart, I missed you so much" he said softly.

"Sweetheart?" Coulson and his team, as well as Fury looked at them confused.

"Yeah, she's my little sweetheart" Tony stated, a wide grin on his face. "Before you all ask, Skye and I know each other for years. She lived with me for about five years and she is like my baby-sister. Which I love very much" he added quickly placing a kiss on her temple.

"I love you too, Tony."

"Ok, that needs to be elaborated. Later" Fury said. "We have important things to discuss."

"But before that I have an announcement" Skye started and walked over to Grant grabbing his hand "Grant and I are a couple."

A moment later the Avengers just looked shocked, before Romanoff walked over to where the couple was embracing them both.

"Congratulations you two" she said.

"Thanks, Nat" Grant and Skye said at the same time.

"Didn't I tell you they would end up together?" Romanoff asked Barton.

"Yeah, you did. Congratulations, both of you" he said, shaking Grant's hand and hugging Skye. "You know, man, I like you, but if you hurt her I will make you suffer" he finished in a serious tone.

"Don't worry. I won't. I love her too much" Grant assured.

"And before anyone else threatens my boyfriend. We love each other and he won't hurt me. So all of you just stop" Skye said exasperated.

"There's only one problem..." Fury started but got interrupted by Skye.

"No, boss. I won't have that crap. I don't give a fuck about protocol. I swear if you even try to break us up I will quit and you can fight Hydra by yourself. And I take _my _program with me." Skye heard Grant cough. "And my kick-ass boyfriend."

Fury looked at her pissed. "You done?"

"I don't know? Am I"

"If you would shut up for a minute you would find out that I'm ok with it. Coulson already told me about you two. And. I'm. Ok. With. It. What I wanted to say before you started shouting like the lunatic that you are, you would have heard that the only problem we have is that we need to find more allies and prepare strike forces" Fury yelled at her.

"Uhm, my mistake" Skye said pouting like a little child. The interaction between their boss and the hacker made the others smile, only Stark bursted out into laughter.

"Damn, I really missed you, kid."

„Now, can I have your attention everyone?" Fury asked. They all nodded. "Skye's program works great. We were able to identify a lot of Hydra agents and make sure to lock them up for some random crap they did wrong or reassign them. But we need to do more." He stopped and looked around. Skye raised her hand. "Yes?" he asked irritated.

"If I may. I've given much thought to that subject. What we don't want to do is alert them. When we strike we need to do it quickly and at the same time. Which means we would have to split up into teams. Of course, we alone aren't enough. We need a lot more people. I will run an algorithm to determine who's SHIELD for real and then recruit them. But we need code names. How about Messiah?"

"Really? You go all religious on me now?" Fury asked her raising an eyebrow.

"Come on. It's meaningful. It can be something else. Anyway, we would have to take back our bases all at the same time otherwise Hydra agents could warn each other and we so don't want that. But not just SHIELD is infected with the Hydra virus. Branches of governments all over the world are dealing with this scum. We need to talk to them and warn them and prepare for what is coming."

„Rousing speech, really" Fury said sarcastically. "And how do you suggest we recruit and talk to all this officials. We can't just knock on their doors like it's the most natural thing" Fury continued and turned away, walking towards the bar.

"_I know. But we need to do something. We can't just sit back and do nothing. We need to be prepared for what is coming. I know we can do it. Hydra has lost already a major advantage over us. They no longe have the element of surprise."_

"I know that" Fury answered, still not looking at her.

"Know what?" a tall man asked, who remaind hidden until then. The others soon realized it was Steve Rogers, none other than Captain America.

"What Skye said" Fury answered pouring himself a scotch.

"But she didn't say anything" Barton explained.

"Are you deaf or something, Barton? She clearly just said Hydra lost it's element of surprise over us" Fury said pissed off.

"No she didn't" May joined in.

"What? I clearly heard her..." Fury turned around and looked at the others who looked at him like he lost his mind. "Tell them you just said that" Fury addressed Skye.

"I can't."

"Why not?" he asked her, getting angrier by the minute.

"Because I didn't open my mouth" Skye said smiling.

"What are you talking about? I clearly heard you."

"But they didn't" Skye continued smiling. Fury looked at her incredulous. _"Only you could hear me. You are able to hear me because I want you to. But I could hear your thoughts without your knowledge. You knew I am a guardian and had abilities. This is one of them. I kept training them and I'm getting better at it. My program will help us sort out who's who. But my abilities will help to figure out without any doubt if someone is Hydra or not. Whenever we can't be sure of someones loyalty I could spook around the persons mind to figure it out. What do you say? And you don't have to say it out loud. You can think it. I will hear you think it" _she finished still smiling.

"_I think that would be interesting" _Fury thought and knew by Skye's wide grin that she heard him.

"Could somebody please explain what is going on" Barton said exasperated. "First Fury goes all looney on us, hearing things and now he and Skye have a grinning competition" he continued.

"They are talking" Ward answered, smiling. He and Skye trained for the past two weeks and Skye got better and better. He was really proud of her. She managed to improve all her powers and resumed ar SHIELD training without protesting. At least, not to much protesting.

"What? They just look at each other like two morons" Romanoff pointed out.

_If only they knew_ Ward thought.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N. the-art-of-escape asked me to write about how Tony found out along with the others about Skye's abilities and thought it would be cute if he would pout. So, I thought to grant you your wish. R&R

„Let me explain then" Skye started. "As you all know by now I am Midgard's guardian" as she placed her right hand over her heart, transforming into her guardian-self "what some of you don't know is that I have special abilities. Like" she looked towards the kitchen and made a bottle of water float towards the common room amazing the Avengers and Fury, since the team already knew that trick "or" she opened her palm and a ball of light appeared "or _I can talk to you without opening my mouth_".

Everybody in the room looked at her in awe. Coulson and his team already experienced the floating and the energy ball, but were surprised to hear Skye in their own minds.

"Since when can you do all this?" Tony asked her.

"A while."

"And you didn't think your big brother needed and deserved to know that?" he asked her pouting.

"Oh, come on, Tony. It's not like I could have told you over the phone. Besides, I only managed to increase my abilities the last couple of weeks, thanks to my constant training with Grant. And the fact I could freely practise around the Bus without freaking out my team also helped. Please don't be mad" Skye pleaded and hugged her surrogate big brother.

"How could I stay mad at you. But next time you have big news I'm the first to hear about them. Not Fury, not Coulson, not... what's your name again" he asked looking at Grant.

"Agent Grant Ward, Skye's boyfriend" he simply answered.

"We'll see about that" Tony said in a serious tone.

"Stop that" Skye smacked him over the arm. "Leave my boyfriend alone. His a good guy and I love him. And you should be glad. He would die for me so stop being a jerk" she said looking upset.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry" he said kissing her forehead. "Look, Agent Ward, I've known Skye for a lot longer than all of you and she isn't really good at picking the right guy..."

"Hey" Skye protested.

"What? Do I really need to start about your ex-boyfriends?"

"No" she said pouting.

"Anyway, but I've been listening to her ever since she joined this team about how her SO is such a great guy and that he's really teaching her to become an agent la-dee-da-dee-da. All that lovesick crap that girls love to talk about. But I also talked to the Widow, since Birdy is more of a tomb stone when it comes to small talk. She assured me you are a good guy. And I know everyone already threatened you so I'm not even bothering. But Skye here is my baby-sis and I love her. Don't hurt her."

"Don't worry, I'll never do that. At least not intentionally" Grant said. Tony stretched out his right hand and Grant shook it, sealing a silent promise between the two men.

"Lovely. Can we go back to business now or does anyone else want to threaten Agent Ward and cuddle Skye?" Fury asked sarcastically.

"Of course, boss" Skye said, getting out of Tony's tight embrace.

"Oh, relax Fury" Tony said.

"Maybe we should just sit down and talk about our next step" Steve suggested and everyone looked for a place to sit down.

Romanoff, Barton, Rogers and Stark sat down on the couch, while Coulson and Fury sat down opposite to each other in the adjoining arm chairs. May leaned against the chair Coulson sat in, while FitzSimmons, Skye and Ward sat on the floor.

"I have to agree with Skye" Steve suddenly spoke up. "If we would attack SHIELD bases one by one, Hydra agents would alert one another about this new development. Which would result in probably more casualties than necessary. If we were to engage in a fight we need to do it swiftly and simultaneously to ensure we take back as many SHIELD facilities as possible."

"I agree" Barton supported Steve. "We need to attack at the same time, otherwise Hydra will be able to regroup, which we want to avoid."

"Question is how exactly are we going to do this?" Coulson asked.

"We recruit as many soldiers as possible" Skye answered. "I will run a search to locate the most trustworthy SHIELD agents we have. They will be interrogated – I think it's safe to say that we have three of the best interrogators in this room" she said looking at May, Romanoff and Grant "who will determine if we can trust our recruits or not. They won't be briefed until I get to them. You will do the heavy lifting and then I will check them before we explain to them what we are facing."

"We also need to consolidate our alliances with different governments all over the world. That however will require time. But it might be also very difficult to discuss the Hydra matter without rousing suspicions" Fury said, almost thinking out loud.

"The program I've designed can do that. And since you know most of them already you can think of random topics you need to discuss. But I think I know a way" Skye told him.

"What do you have in mind, kid?" Fury asked her.

"A party."

"A what? Are you insane? We need to focus on the upcoming war with Hydra, not a party" Fury shouted.

"Damn, you're dense. A party would be a perfect way to get most, if not all our potential future allies into the same room. Without causing suspicion" Skye started explaining.

"I think I know what she's up to" Romanoff said smirking. "You are smart."

"She's a Stark after all" Tony said proudly.

"Could someone explain?" Barton asked.

"If we would throw a party, SHIELD opening up to the world, showing that we are here to protect the world not to put it in danger we kill two flies in one move. First, it should be something official. Let the world know about it. After all, everyone knows about SHIELD since the Battle of New York. Let's advertise. And second, and this is more important, we can call our potential allies to discuss the Hydra matter without causing suspicion."

"And where exactly would we throw this party. It's not like we could invite them to one of our bases?" Fury asked sarcastically.

"Stark Tower" Tony answeres.

"Exactly. Hey, can you read my mind?" Skye asked smiling.

"No, but I know you, baby girl" Tony answered smirking.

"So, a party then?" Barton asked them grinning.

"Yeah, it would be perfect. Not only will SHIELD show the world that we are the good guys, but we can plan our counter strike. Hydra won't know what hit them. They think they are so smart. Hah, they are dumb as raisins" Skye said, slightly boasting.

"Ok. I get the party. But how and where exactly can we meet with our allies?" Fury asked.

"The basement. Tony and I made it our little bunker. It goes deep underground, unable to be detected and no one except for us knows about it. There is a special elevator that goes straight into the basement. The party will take place on the 10th floor, since the ball room is there. Yeah, I know, Tony wanted a really big room to party. We will fill the place with a lot of people. Not only politicians and celebs, but also SHIELD agents. And not just high ranking, but all kinds. At some point we will ask our special guests to join us in the penthouse, since Tony wants to show it off. From there we will get the elevator to the basement. Jarvis will keep us posted on what's happening at the party. He will also scramble any way of communication."

"Sounds good" Coulson said, proud of the youngest member of his team.

"How will we inform our allies to join us?" May asked curiously.

"We can't risk one person approaching all of them at the same time. Since some of you know several of them we will split into teams. Our allies won't know why we want them in the penthouse. They will find out once we are in the basement."

"Alright. I think we have a plan. How soon can we have this party?" Fury asked.

"Well today is Thursday..." Skye started looking at Tony "how about Saturday next?"

"You know that's no problem for me" Tony said "How about you, Nick?" he asked the director.

"I think we can make it. I'm going to inform Agent Hill about this party and ask her to send out invitations. I will personally call the VIP's, both those we can trust and those we can't. Making it official."

"Make sure Pierce is on board" Skye said.

"Why?" Fury asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"I've told you before" Skye answered him.

"I know you did. But I've known Alexander for a long time and I don't really see him…" Fury started.

"Exactly, because you know him you can't see. But I bet you anything that he's one of them."

"One of who?" Barton asked.

"Hydra" came the answer from Skye. "I know that Director Fury is reluctant to believe that, especially since Pierce is one of his friends, but the evidence is against him."

"What evidence?" May asked. Skye stood up and went to her bunk retrieving a file that she then handed to Fury.

"In that file you will find information on Pierce right after the Battle of New York. I've got more on a secure thumb drive. What's in there" pointing at the file "is just the tip of the iceberg."

"I'll study it, but if I can prove you wrong, will you drop it?" Fury wanted to know.

"Yes, but unfortunately you can't. Read it and then we'll talk." Skye sat back down next to Grant and looked at the others.

"So, they are really back" Fitz spoke for the first time.

"They never left, Fitz" Skye told him.

"We defeated them once, we can do it again. And this time for good" Steve practically vowed.

"Yes, we will" Coulson stood up. "Are you with me?" he asked looking at each person in the room. One by one they stood up and said "I am" until only Fury was left, who seemed oblivious to what was happening around him, since he started reading the file Skye gave him.

"Boss" Skye tried to capture his attention, but was unsuccessful.

"Director?" Coulson tried as well.

"Yo, Nick" Tony shouted, startling Fury.

"What?" Fury asked annoyed.

"Are you with us? Against Hydra?" Coulson asked his boss.

"What a dumb question, Coulson. You almost sound like the loony toon" pointing at Skye, which earned him an offended "Hey" from her. "Of course, I'm in. I will take those SOB's down so hard, their grandchildren's grandchildren will feel the pain."

"Then it's settled. We should start working on our plan" Coulson said.

After Fury and the Avengers left and Coulson's team was again for themselves, each member returned to his or her own bunk to process everything. Grant took Skye's hand and dragged her into her bunk, locking the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" Skye asked him.

"It's been a long day and I miss kissing my girlfriend whenever I like" he said pulling her closer into his arms.

"Aw, aren't you the sweetest."

"No, you are" he said and claimed her lips. Their kiss started out gentle and loving, but soon turned into one filled with lust and passion and desire. Skye had to push him away in order to make him stop, which caused him to frown. "What?" he asked almost like a child who was caught doing something wrong.

"Not here. Someone could hear us. And I suddenly feel really dirty" she smirked at him. He only raised an eyebrow not understanding what she meant, since they skipped her training session. "Damn, what's with you men in not taking a hint? I feel dirty, I need to take a shower… get it. And I need help to rub the places I can't reach" she said in a seductive voice.

"Ah, yeah, sure. I'll help you" he said, once he understood what she wanted. _That wicked little minx_. They looked for some clothes and headed to the showers, locking themselves in to be undisturbed.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N It has been a while since I last updated, but I am currently on vacation and I have only limited access to a computer (which is not mine *miss my computer*). This chapter is a little bit shorter than the ones zoo are used too. But I promise I will try to update soon.

For the next few days everyone was preoccupied in planning and preparing for the upcoming party. Fury and Hill send out invitations to everyone important, Stark prepared the ball room, Barton, Romanoff and Rogers bugged the room, while Stark connected those bugs to Jarvis' system.

Of course, when Tony told Peeper they would host a SHIELD party she never thought that his idea of preparation would include bugs. So she took it upon herself to actually decorate the room and organize everything. After all, they had a reputation to keep up. It would be an understatement to say that she was surprised to learn that her old friend Phil Coulson was alive. Last time Tony spoke about him was after the Battle of New York, when he informed her that the SHIELD agent died in action. Although they weren't the closest Pepper really liked Phil and was genuinely sad about his demise. So when Tony once again brought him up she was first shocked, but then relieved that he was still alive. She sincerely couldn't wait to see him again. But when Tony told her that Skye was working for Coulson she was almost relieved to hear that. When Skye first talked to her after she joined SHIELD Pepper didn't know what to say to the young girl, knowing that SHIELD meant trouble, meant getting hurt or even killed. But now that she knew that her surrogate little sister was under the protective wing of Phil her mind was put at ease. She couldn't wait to see the young woman again.

"Tell me, how is she?" Pepper asked Tony to reveal more about Skye and her new job.

"She's fine. She's helping Nick with that problem of his, she is training to become a field agent and she has a new boyfriend" Tony told her, never looking up from his laptop.

"A boyfriend?" Pepper asked, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah."

"Would you mind to elaborate on that?" she insisted.

"What's there too say?"

"Tony" her tone warning. "You know what I mean. Who is he? Is he nice? He's none of those kind she had before?"

"No, relax. Our little girl has grown up. His name is Grant Ward and his an agent of SHIELD. His on Phil's team and Skye's supervising officer. And trust me everyone that ever met our girl threatened him with lots of pain if he ever hurt her. But I doubt he ever will. He loves her. I think it's the real deal, Pep. She loves him too. Like the kind of love you find once in a blue moon."

"Aw, really? I'm so happy for her. Now I can't wait to meet him too. His coming to the party, right?"

"Of course he is. I doubt he would ever leave her side again. That day I went with Fury to discuss the problem we spent the day on the Bus and the two of them almost never stayed separated for long. I think the only time they weren't glued together was when one of them needed to use the restroom."

"First of all, that's so sweet" Pepper said smiling "and second, what's the bus?"

"It's a mobile command center, a plane. Phil's team lives and works there" Tony explained.

"We should invite them over. Both Skye and her boyfriend but also the rest of their team. I'm dying to see Phil and to meet all the others. I will prepare bedrooms for them" Pepper started talking, while she walked off leaving Tony work on his improved surveillance system.

Meanwhile on the Bus. Coulson and May discussed the latest report they got from Garrett. Apparently he was still "chasing" after the Clairvoyant. Obviously he was unsuccessful.

"We should invite Garrett to the party" Coulson said not looking up from the file.

"Why?" May asked him, one eyebrow raised.

"Ward told me he never checked in with him so I told him to call him."

"And?"

"Well, we agreed that he should say that even though he went to Asgard with Skye he was not allowed to stay with her while their doctors cured her. The only thing he saw was a big closed door. And since Skye was unconscious she wouldn't know what happened to her in there. But it's important for Ward to keep up his cover."

"But why do you want him at the party?" May asked again, never getting the answer from her boss and friend.

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" Coulson simply said. "Besides I already talked to Fury and he agrees."

"Ok. But we need to be careful. I don't think it would be a good idea if Garrett knew about Ward's feelings for Skye" May commented.

"You are right. I will talk to them about the issue. Although I believe Skye is more than capable of defending herself, I don't know what Garrett might do if he knew someone like her existed and more importantly I don't think he would just leave her be. He would try to use her abilities for his own personal gain. All the things he did to Ward... I don't even wanna think what he might do to Skye" Coulson said, agreeing completely with his fellow agent and friend.

The two senior agents went through several details involving both the pending party and other missions, before Coulson's phone rang.

"Agent Hill, what a surprise to hear from you" Coulson answered his phone.

"Hello Agent Coulson. I called you to inform you that Mr. Stark is throwing a party and invited several SHIELD agents, you and your team among the guest's. The party willtake place this Saturday, in New York, Stark Towers, 10th floor" Hill informed Coulson as if that was the first time he ever heard of the party. Not knowing who might be listening in on their conversations they decided to act it all out.

"Thank you, Agent Hill. My team and I will be there" he answered.

"That's not all. Since you and Mr. Stark have a little history together he would like you to join him and Miss Potts on Thursday in the same location. You will be staying there until the party. So no more missions. And the rest of your team is invited as well."

"How nice of them. Iwould love to spend some time with both of them. In case you talk to them before I get there could you please thank them for me for the kind invitation?" Coulson asked his superior.

"Of course, I had a video conference scheduled anyway with Miss Potts, who's organising everything. Apparently, Mr. Stark knows how to party, but is clueless when it comes to organise one" she said, barely holding back a chuckle.

"Alright, then I guess I will see you at the party" Coulson said.

"I guess so. Goodbye, Agent Coulson" Hill said and hung up before he could answer.

"So how about that?" Coulson asked looking at May. "We get a little down time in New York and Stark Tower out of all places."

"I know somebody who will be extra thrilled about this news" May said smiling.

"Oh, yeah. She will be."

Later that day, after everyone finished their work they all gathered in the common room, where Coulson delivered the good news.

"Awesome!" Skye shouted, unable to hide her excitement.

"And we are all invited?" Jemma asked almost afraid the answer might be no. She always wanted to visit Stark Tower, but never would have admitted that out loud.

"Yes. They expect us to arrive on Thursday. Since is only two days from now we will stay here" Coulson explained.

"A.C. I was wondering..." Skye started. "Would it be ok if we would go out? I mean I would like to get them something. At least Pepper, cause I know she is the one planning and organising everything. Besides I haven't seen her since I joined SHIELD."

"I don't see why not" Coulson answered her.

"Could I join you" Jemma asked her friend.

"Sure. How about you Agent May. Would you like to join us during our shopping trip?" Skye asked the older agent.

"Why not? Haven't gone shopping in a while" she said with a small smile on her face. Ever since the revelations after Quinn was taken into custody, May seemed to open up to her team mates.

"Great" Skye said.

"What about us? Are you going to leave us here?" Fitz asked the female agents.

"You wanna join us for shopping?" Jemma asked incredulous.

"Well not for clothing or make-up" he started.

"What else do you thing they will buy?" Ward asked him chuckling.

"You'd be surprised to know Agent Ward" May answered smirking.

"Yeah, I don't think we want to know that specifically, thank you May" Coulson said.

"What do I miss?" Fitz asked.

"I think they are talking about female products" Ward provided the answer.

"Yuk, I didn't want to know that" Fitz said, making a funny face.

"There's nothing to be disgusted by" Jemma said, a little offended by her friends reaction.

"Funny thing, though, I think meant something more vibrating" Skye said laughing.

"What? Like what?" Fitz asked again.

"Damn, you 're dense" Skye said, laughing even harder. She was soon joined by May and Jemma. Ward and Coulson looked slightly flustered, but smiled at the young agents confusion.

"I'll explain later" Ward promised the male scientist. Fitz only nodded and left to get some work done in the lab.

"Ward, Skye, could you please come to my office. I have something to tell you" Coulson said and walked back to his office. The two younger agents nodded and followed.

Once in the office Coulson gestured that they should take a seat. Ward and Skye sat down waiting for their boss to start talking.

"Is something wrong, sir" Ward asked, a little concerned.

"Nothing is wrong. But I need to warn you and asked you to be cautious. After taking into consideration many factors, Director Fury and I have decided to invite Agent Garrett to the party. Therefore it's important that the two of you keep a low profile. We don't need Garrett to know about your relationship."

"Agreed" Ward said without hesitation.

"Skye?" Coulson asked, knowing the hacker would most likely protest and argue she could take care of herself.

"Agreed" she answered.

"Really?" Coulson asked her, surprised she didn't protest.

"Yeah. And before you ask, I already had this same conversation with Grant. I think it's best we let Garrett believe his still in charge of Grant and his decisions. It would be stupid to jeopardize our mission and implicitly our lives just for us to show off what a cute couple we are" Skye said, as if it was the most normal thing to say. Come to think of it, yeah it was normal, Coulson had to admit that. But she really matured. She started thinking like an operative. Coulson then looked to Ward and saw the pride on his face, while looking at her, like she was the only one in the room. _He is head over heels for this girl_ Coulson thought.

"Alright, now that this is settled you are dismissed. One more thing, Agent Ward" he said when the two younger agents reached for the door "tell Agent Fitz we will join the ladies. But we will have our own shopping trip, just us guys."

"Sounds great, sir" Ward said and left the room, following Skye.

A/N Next we will see the team on their shopping trip, maybe a movie and then heading out to join Tony and Pepper. As usual I can not wait to read sour thoughts on the story. R&R. Until next time.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N So today I am on fire. Here is another update. R&R

After getting ready the team took the cars, Coulson and May took Lola, while Skye, Ward and FitzSimmons took the SUV, and headed into the city, to the nearest mall. The drive didn't take long and about 30 minutes later they parked the cars. The women decided quickly to get some new clothes, while the men had yet to decide where they would go. All of them however decided to reunite two hours later for lunch and maybe a movie after wards.

The three female agents explored one shop after the other, trying on clothes or suggesting new looks to one another. After the first hour May asked the younger women if they had any party dresses, to which both Skye and Jemma smiled and said that nothing remotely good enough for such a party. Therefore all three of them went looking for stunning gowns and necessary jewelery to complete their outfits. Every one of them tried on several dresses, one more stunning and breathtaking as the one before it. It nearly took them an hour before each woman found the right dress for herself. May had a simple black dress, that covered her legs just a little bit over her knees and went around her neck, pushing her breasts together leaving the impression of a much rounder chest. The two younger girls were fascinated by May's choice and offered several compliments each. Jemma chose a long strapless green dress, that offered a generous view on her back, while Skye chose a pale pink dress that was short in the front and long in the back. To complete their outfits the women looked for proper shoes. May chose golden sandals, since Jemma suggested she should wear a big golden bracelet and nothing more. Jemma decided to go with black sandals and Skye chose some silver ones, deciding she wouldn't need any jewelery. After all three of them were completely satisfied with their outfits and accessories they left the boutique and went looking for their fellow team mates. It wasn't really surprising to find all three of them on a bench looking rather annoyed and maybe a little worried.

"Where have you been?" Ward stood up and walked the short distance to Skye. "I was worried. You didn't pick up your phone" he said, concern clearly in his voice.

"We were dress shopping and kinda forgot the time" she said reaching in her pocket and fishing out her phone, realizing that he had called her several times, but she didn't hear anything since the phone was put on vibrate. "I'm so sorry, baby. I didn't hear it. I promise I will be more careful from now on. Can you forgive me?" she asked looking into his eyes softly. He sighed.

"Don't ever do that again. I was really worried. And stop with the puppy eyes" he said now smiling. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I forgive you."

The others just watched the couple and smiled at their interactions. Even though it wasn't the first time they saw them being so close together it still felt strange at times. Not long ago the two of them were nothing more than supervising officer and rookie. And now they seemed like an old married couple.

The team decided to eat lunch and than watch a movie, a comedy since it was almost impossible for them to really decide on something unanimously. Therefore Coulson put his foot down and declared they would be watching a comedy to cheer everyone up. Since they didn't plan on watching a movie they never made any reservations making it impossible to sit together. Coulson and May sat in the fifth row, while FitzSimmons got the places a row behind and to the left of the senior agents. That meant that Skye and Ward were left with the seats in the tenth row, which they didn't mind. About ten minutes after the movie started Ward yawned and put his arm around Skyes shoulder. Skye could only giggle, since she remembered that he once told her he regretted never taking her out on a real date. When she asked him what he would have done he told her that they would have gone out on a typical date – dinner and then a movie. Well they didn't have dinner, but lunch was just as good. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. It didn't take them long before they completely ignored the movie and started making out like two lovesick teenagers. At some point Skye and Ward left the movie theater and went to the SUV in the underground parking lot. They deposited their bags in the trunk and climbed into the back of the car. They continued their making out session ending it with a very intense round of car sex. Twice. They knew they didn't have much time before the movie was over and the team would realize they were gone. They got back just in time to see the doors to the movie theater open and people coming out. Fortunately there were several other people who were in front of their team so they would pretend they got out just before the others.

"So, did you like the movie" Jemma asked Skye, after the team split up again. Like before the women continued their shopping trip, while the men went looking for tuxedos.

"Yeah, it was fun" Skye replied.

"What did you like best" Jemma asked grinning.

"Uhm, all of it" Skye replied, not really sure were this was going.

"I think she liked best when Ward kissed her stupid" May said, grinning.

"What?" Skye asked dumbfounded.

"Oh, I think she liked it best when they left to snuggle" Jemma said with a very wide smile on her face.

"Wait. What?"

"Oh, come on. We saw you leave" May explained.

"Really?"

"Does Coulson know?"

"No. And don't worry I won't tell him" May assured.

"And I think it's safe to say that Fitz never even suspected you were gone. Even though you were waiting for us outside without your bags" Jemma added.

"Oh god, where's that hole when you need it" Skye asked, covering her face with her hands.

"Relax. It's not like we are oblivious" May continued. "I was actually wondering how long it would take you two to sneak out. If you asked me it took you long enough."

"You know, I never thought that I would have a conversation like the one we are having now with you Agent May. But I'm glad we do. I wanted to tell you something for a while now" Skye told the older woman.

"Go ahead" May encouraged her.

"I really admire you and I was wondering if sometime, I mean if you want of course, you would like to teach me a thing or two. I mean Grant is a great SO and all but there are just some things he can't teach me."

May looked at the hacker for a while considering what she just heard and a small smile appeared on her face.

"I would love too" she said "and when we are by ourselves you can call me Melinda. Both of you."

"Uhm, May I mean Melinda" Jemma started "I know I'm not a field agent, but could you teach me a thing or two too. I mean just in case, to be able to protect myself."

"Sure. We can do this" Melinda agreed. The two younger women smiled and an instant later both hugged the senior agent tightly. Melinda could only smile. "Ok, how about we continue our trip?"

"Sure. Where next?" Skye asked.

"I don't know about you, but I need some new underwear" Jemma said.

"It's settled then. Let's go buy some underwear" May declared.

The three women searched through several stores before they found what suited them best. At Jemma's insistence Skye tried on several sexy lingerie items and decided to buy a few just in case. The other two only left knowing exactly what Skye had in mind.

"You are going to drive Ward crazy in those" Melinda pointed out.

"Maybe that's what she is going for" Jemma said laughing.

"Shush, they will hear you" Skye said pointing at the three men approaching them.

Grant immediately walked to his girlfriend wrapping one arm around her waist and kissing her. Before he completely pulled back he whispered "I've missed you" avoiding the others to hear him. He had to endure enough teasing for sneaking out. At first he thought that Coulson would be mad, but it soon turned out that both Coulson and Fitz had a field day, teasing him to no end.

"I've missed you too" Skye said pressing a soft kiss on his lips before finally pulling apart.

"Did you get everything?" Coulson asked the women.

"Yeah and more" Melinda answered, looking over to Skye and grinning.

"Did I miss something?" Coulson asked.

"Nope" Melinda answered, popping the p.

"Okay. One final thing before we leave. It was brought to my attention that we need some new movies for movie night" Coulson said.

"You mean Grant brought it to your attention, since he hates our Disney movies" Skye said smirking.

"Hey, not fair. I don't hate them. But it's always the same movies. I already know them in and out" Grant defended.

"Whatever you say, Robot."

"Nevertheless he is right. We need some new movies, maybe a new board game or two, since Skye is our resident Battleship champion and Simmons our Scrabble champion" Coulson continued.

"When we left the movie theater I saw a bookstore. They probably have movies and boardgames too. Let's go there" Fitz said.

They all went to the bookstore Fitz had mentioned and started browsing. Jemma and Fitz went to look for boardgames, while Coulson and May looked for movies. They decided to get at least one movie in every genre, so that all of the team members had something to look forward to. Grant looked at books, since the ones he got he already read, some even twice.

"Where to find you? In front of a bookshelf of course. You are so predictable, Robot" Skye said from behind him.

"You know it's really getting old you calling me a robot. I believe I have proved more than one time that I'm far from being one."

"I know you are no robot, but would you prefer I called you sex machine?" Skye asked him in a low voice so that only Grant could hear her. At her question he blushed slightly.

"No. At least not in public" he said wrapping his arms around her "in our bunk however you can call me however you want, baby."

"If it really bothers you I will try to stop calling you that" Skye said seriously.

"It's not that bad. You can keep calling me robot if you make it up to me later" he said smirking.

"Oh, I can do that. I already bought a few items for a situation like that."

"Really?" he asked smiling. "And when will I get to see this items?"

"Soon" she teased. "But we should stop now, before we jump on each other like some horny animals" she said laughing.

"You might be right. Wanna help me find a book?"

"Sure. There's actually one I would like to read myself."

"Really? You reading a book? Did hell freeze over?" he mocked.

"Hey, I read books. Just because I don't actually have them in hard cover doesn't mean I don't read. But just to show you that I can read out of a real book I will buy one" she said walking to the shelf where she spotted the book she wanted. Grant followed her and looked over her shoulder to see which book she picked.

"A song of ice and fire. Isn't this the Game of Thrones story?" Grant asked.

"Yeah. I heard it's a good read so I decided to try it out."

"In that case grab a copy for me too. We will read it together."

"There's actually an entire series. I'm gonna buy all of them. How about you?"

"Same here."

Skye got the entire series for both of them and they headed for the register where Grant bought all the books. Skye wanted to protest but he told her she could make it up to him with a kiss or two later. She nodded and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

Soon the team headed back to the Bus, tired but happy to have spend the day together and yet not be crowded on the airplane.

That night Skye and Grant started reading their copies of _A Game of Thrones. _But after the first chapter they put the books away and Skye started thanking Grant for buying her the books.


	17. Chapter 17

It was Thursday morning. Early in the morning when Skye woke up even before Grant, which was highly unusual for the hacker since she basically lived for sleeping in. She tried to get out of bed as quietly as possible to not wake him up. Unfortunately the trained specialist had a light sleep and woke up the second he felt her move. He kept his eyes closed believing she would soon fall back to sleep. Far from it, since Skye felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. All she wanted was to get out of bed and get in the air to get to New York. She was so excited that she barely fell asleep the previous night. She tried to unwrap herself from his arms which caused him to hold onto her even tighter. She muttered under her breath and tried to climb out of bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, his eyes still closed.

"Trying to leave our bed" she answered, still trying to get out of his embrace.

"It's still early. You never get up this early in the morning" he continued.

"Today is special. We are going to New York."

"I know that. But everyone else is still asleep. Including May. And I wouldn't wake her up. She might kick your ass for that."

Skye thought about what he said and considered it for a moment. Shaking her head she dropped back and aloud him to hold her tightly against his warm body. After a while she looked up at him.

"Good morning, baby" she said softly.

"Good morning, sweetheart" he said leaning down to place a kiss on her lips.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I always sleep well when you are in my arms."

"Aren't you the charmer? So, are we getting up to have some breakfast or are you in for a quickie in the shower" she asked grinning.

"Well if you ask me like that..." he started but claimed her lips in a passionate kiss.

"So quickie then?" she asked with a wide smile on her face.

"Actually, I would like to grab something to eat first. You really wore me out last night. I swear, compared to our lovemaking marathons the workouts I had to do during my training were piece a cake" he said smiling.

"Really? Does this mean that our workouts between the sheets count as training?"

"Maybe. I still have to evaluate you later to decide if such a workout could be indeed called training. But not before a champion's breakfast" he said in a serious voice, although Skye knew by now that he was messing with her. She loved this side of him. Even though he changed a great deal since the truth came out, he still reserved this side of him just for her.

"May I ask does this champion's breakfast include pancakes?" Skye asked him softly.

"What else?" he said grinning. He kissed her one more time before unwrapping his arms from around her and getting out of bed. "Will you help me make them?"

"Sure. Let's surprise the team with some pancakes when they get up."

The couple went into the kitchen preparing everything for their breakfast. While Grant made the pancakes, Skye sat the table and cleaned whatever Grant used and didn't need anymore. While the two of them were working they started talking about little things.

"Did you ever visit Liberty Island" Skye asked her boyfriend.

"Can't say that I did" he replied. "How about you?"

"No, but I would love to go there. Let's go together. Just the two of us, ok? It would be like our second date" Skye beamed.

"Sure. I can't wait to go on another date with you" he said and leaned towards her to place a soft kiss on her cheek.

"It's settled then. Oh I can't wait to get there already."

Grant just smiled at her. He didn't say anything, but he was just as excited as she was, only he was an expert in hiding his emotions, while she loved to show them. Come to think of it, the two of them were a really odd pair. They couldn't be more different, but they fitted together as to pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

By the time Grant finished the pancakes the team started getting up, especially since the Bus was filled with the inviting scent of freshly made pancakes. Within minutes the entire team gathered in the lounge area and started eating the delicious breakfast, chatting about all kinds of things. After everyone was finished FitzSimmons offered to take care of the cleaning up, while Coulson returned to his office and May to the cockpit to prepare everything for take off. Ten minutes later the Bus was on it's way to New York.

Skye and Grant decided to play a board game with FitzSimmons. They decided on Monopoly. Their game was fun and the time seemed to pass more rapidly, since none of them seemed to notice that they were approaching the city. When May's voice announced them to buckle up, they quickly put the game away, deciding that no one won and prepared for their descent.

The moment the Bus landed Skye quickly unbuckled and ran downstairs to the cargo hold ramp which she let down immediately. As expected, Tony and Pepper were waiting for them outside. When Skye saw them she stormed out, almost falling down after she tripped twice. Tony held his arms wide open for her to run into them. But Skye had other plans. She launched herself into Pepper's arms and hugged the older woman tightly.

"Oh my god, Pep, I've missed you so much" Skye said in one breath, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I've missed you too, sweetheart" Pepper said holding onto her for another moment before letting go of her. Skye then hugged Happy, Tony's former driver and now Pepper's bodyguard.

"Happy, it's so good to see you. I've missed you" she said.

"I've missed you too, kiddo" he said softly, hugging her tightly.

"Hey, what about me?" Tony asked, pretending to be offended.

"Get over it, bro. I've missed you too, of course. But we have already seen each other. Come here you big doofus" Skye said pulling her brother into a hug.

"Oh my god. Phil Coulson" Pepper said, when she spotted Coulson walking towards them, followed by his team.

"It's good to see you, Miss Potts" he said smiling at her.

"Phil, please, I thought we already agreed that you would call me Pepper" she said, while hugging him.

"Phil? I think his first name is Agent" Tony said, earning a smack over the shoulder by Skye. The others just laughed.

After Skye introduced the team she finally stopped in front of Grant grabbing his hand and smiling.

"Pepper, I would like you to meet my boyfriend. This is Grant Ward" she said and Grant stretched out his right hand to shake Pepper's. Pepper pushed his hand away and pulled him into a hug.

"You are family now and family members don't shake hands, they hug. A lot" she said and let go of the man a moment later. "It is very nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you and I'm happy Skye found such a good man like yourself" she said. "Come everyone, let's get to Stark Tower and get you settled in. Your rooms are ready and waiting for you. If you have any luggage just give it to Happy."

The team went back to get their things and returned with a small bag each. They handed them to Happy, who loaded them into the SUV he was driving. The team got into the SUV but Tony stopped Skye, handing her a key chain. She looked down and realized he gave her the keys to a car. Looking behind him she saw a very familiar car – a red Lamborghini Diablo – her car.

"Oh no! You are not going to do this" Pepper yelled.

"Relax, babe, we are careful. Everything is fine" Tiny said getting inside his car, a black Camaro.

"What's going on?" Coulson asked.

"Skye, don't you there getting in that car" Pepper yelled, ignoring Phil's question.

"I don't get it. What's wrong?" Coulson asked again.

"Ok, Skye, don't you dare starting the car" Pepper yelled again, after Skye obviously ignored her the first time. Now Grant got out of the car and looked towards his girlfriend.

"What's going on?" he asked Coulson who just shrugged.

"Skye, don't you dare driving away" Pepper yelled again and like the previous times it was again futile. "Damn it. Get in the car, Happy drive."

They all got into the car drove away from the airstrip. Since SHIELD had it's own airport the location of it was far away from the city and had a rather large road the headed to the highway.

"I don't understand. What's so wrong if Skye drives a car? Even if it is a very expensive car" Fitz asked, not understanding why Pepper made such a fuss about it.

"I don't care about the car. I care about them. Did Skye ever told you how we met her?" Pepper asked them.

"She said Mr. Stark hit her with his car" Grant provided the answer.

"Thank you Agent Ward" she started but got interrupted by Grant.

"Please call me Grant" he told her.

"Alright. You can call me Pepper." Grant just nodded.

"Excuse me, I'm still confused" Fitz spoke again.

"Yeah, sure. That wasn't the only accident the two of them were involved in. They had several. Most of them were nothing major but still. You know even though these two aren't related by blood, they are very much alike. They both are into cars and most importantly and this is what's terrifying me, both like to race. I mean really race. Sometimes I wonder if they want to break the speed of light" Pepper explained.

"Now that's impossible" Jemma started "there is no vehicle that can do that."

"Maybe you can talk to Beaves and Budhead then" Happy said, looking straight ahead.

"What?" they all asked surprised to hear the bodyguard talk like that about his boss and their team mate.

"Oh no" Pepper whined "Do you have Dr. Roberts on speed dial?" she asked Happy. He only nodded.

"Dr. Roberts?" May asked. "Who's that?"

"He is Skye's doctor. Whenever she broke something we called him. He became a good friend over the years."

"I don't think you will have to worry to much Pepper" Phil tried to calm her. "Skye is very responsible."

"I know she can be. But she never is when Tony and a racing car are involved. They are both geniuses but when the two of them get together and they decide it would be fun to race they become really stupid."

"I know you have known Skye for longer than I have, but I can assure you that she matured and..." Grant tried to calm her when he noticed that both cars in front of them picked up speed and were practically flying over the road leaving a huge cloud of dust behind them. "What the ..."cGrant yelled out loud.

"Damn it. Happy drive fast. If they crash we need to help them quickly. I don't wanna go through that again."

Happy hurried to reach the two hobby racers when they saw it. Skye's car drove with alarming speed over a ramp, flipped upside down, turned while still in the air and fell back on the ground on it's wheels, as if nothing happened.

"Jesus Christ" Grant shouted.

Skye's car circled a few more times before coming to a stop and Skye getting out. The SUV stopped and the occupants looked outside to see Skye throwing up. They got out of the car and ran towards the two Stark's, all worried. As they approached them they heard Tony praise Skye for her performance, while holding her hair back.

"Baby girl, that was awesome."

"Did you film it all?" between breaths.

"Of course, I did."

"What the hell is wrong with you two? You scared the living crap out of me. Are you two completely insane. You could die. I understand him to do bullshit like this, but you Skye? I thought you are smarter than that. I can't believe you would do this, not after almost dying the last time" Pepper yelled at them. She continued yelling for another ten minutes straight and no one dared to even breathe. When she was done Tony looked to the ground, ashamed, while Skye was sobbing. They almost never saw Pepper like that. Whenever Pepper got this worked up it meant that it was really bad. Skye and Tony never meant any harm and they usually didn't understand why people were so shocked by what they did. But Skye could understand her. She loved them, very much and she didn't want to lose any of them. When Pepper asked her how she would have felt if Grant did something so stupid and reckless, Skye realized that she would freak out. She looked up at Grant and she saw him looking at her disappointed. She never meant any harm, but she had to stop doing such stupid things. Whenever he risked his life it was for the job, to keep her and the team safe, but what she did was sheer stupid. Skye couldn't hold it back anymore and she launched herself into Pepper's arms, pleading for her forgiveness. Skye had to promise her that she would never ever do anything lime that ever again and if she heard from Phil or Grant that she did then she would personally get to Skye and beat the living lights out of her, and in the process maybe manage to beat some sense into her.

"I'm sorry, Pepper. I promise I will never do anything like this ever again."

"I'm not the only one that deserves an apology, Skye. These people love you and were terrified when they saw what you did. Tony told me that each and everyone of them love you so much they would take a bullet for you. And this is how you repay them. And as for you Tony, shame on you. You are older than her and you should know better. If she is stupid than you need to guide her to be smart, not to be even more stupid. Let's go home. And don't you think this is over. Oh no,this is far from over" she said walking to the Camaro and getting into the driver's seat. "Now move your ass, Stark, I don't have all day." Tony got into the passenger seat of the car and they drove away.

Grant went to Skye's car and got into her seat, motioning for the girl

to follow him. She got into the car and buckled up, dreading already the talk that followed. The team got back in the SUV and Happy drove away, leaving the couple behind.

"I can't believe you did that" he said in a low voice. He wasn't angry, but very disappointed. She could have handled angry Grant or even Berserker Grant, but disappointed Grant broke her heart. She knew she deserved it for a serious lack of judgement, but it still hurt. Nothing she could say would make it right. She just looked down on her hands that rested in her lap.

"When I saw that car flip I thought I would lose you. It is a miracle nothing happened" he said while driving off. " I think it would be useless if I would tell you how stupid and dangerous this all was, not to mention meaningless, since Pepper already told you that. I only have one thing to ask. Next time when you decide your life isn't worth it, please make sure I'm not around" he said, never looking at her. After that none spoke again. Skye wanted to cry, but kept her emotions at bay. She never really thought about what she was doing to others. Most of the time Pepper never even knew about the races between her and Tony. She only found out when they had an accident. But that didn't happen often. Well, actually it did. But she never got really injured. Ok, that's a lie. She got injured a lot. Even had to spend six months in bed and rehab. Bur it wasn't meaningless, it was... damn it. He was right. There was no meaning to it. She and Tony were just stupid and reckless, just like everybody told them. Skye couldn't bare looking at him so she turned away looking out the window.

"I get that this is your thing. Yours and Stark's" he spoke again "but imagine it was me doing this. Would you have liked seeing me doing something so reckless? Or our child? What if one day our son or daughter would do crap like that?"

Skye had to agree. She would have yelled at him and kicked his butt if he ever did something so stupid and reckless and... wait a minute. Did he just say child? Son or daughter? Skye turned to look at him, while he still looked straight ahead. Did he really think of that? About having children? With her?

"Did you mean that?" she asked in a low voice.

"Of course I meant it. You mean the world to me, Skye, and I would die for you. But if you keep on doing stupid things like that... I mean I would die from a heart attack rather from a bullet."

"No, I meant what you said after that. About children? About our son or daughter? You want that? With me?" she asked never looking away from him. He swallowed and knew he had to answer her. He stoped the car off the road and turned to look at her. His gaze was soft and he cupped her face with his hands.

"Yes, Skye. I meant that. I never had that before, but I love you and I know in my heart that I will never love another woman ever again. To be honest I never loved any woman before you either. I want to spent the rest of my life with you, for as long as it may be. But I need to know that I won't lose you. Not like this. Don't chase your own death, please. I need you Skye. I wouldn't be able to survive without you."

"I love you too and I swear I will never do anything like this ever again. You were right, I wasn't thinking when I did it. I was so used to do it with Tony all the time that it felt natural. I never gave much thought to it. But I promise I will never do it again. But you have to promise me that you will always come back to me. That no mission will be more important than us or our family" she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. Grant kissed her tears away and pulled her close to his chest. He breathed in and promised her that he would do whatever it takes to always return to her, safe and sound.

"Would you like us having a family?" he asked still holding her close and stroking her hair.

"I never really thought about it, to be honest. But it doesn't sound bad. Do you think I would be a good mom?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Of course you will. You are kind, good, loving and the fact that sometimes you talk and act like a child can only be to your advantage" he said softly, truing to light the mood. He hated seeing her cry, but this time it was necessary for her to understand that what she did was very wrong. She smacked his shoulder after the child comment but snuggled even more into him.

"I love you Grant. And just that you know, I think you would make a great dad. I can't wait to see you now changing diapers and feeding the baby. Not to mention all the bedtime stories you will tell" she said, now relaxed and smiling again.

"I think we can still put it off for a couple of years though. Until we can't make sure our child will be safe I don't want to go there."

"I agree. No rush on this end either. And I meant it Grant. I know you didn't really have a dad while you grew up, but I know you. You will make a great dad, because you will never allow our kid to suffer the way we did when we were kids. And me neither. Come on, let's get to Stark Tower. I can't wait to see round two" she said and placed a firm kiss on his lips.

"Round two?" he asked, an eyebrow shooting up.

"Yeah, or did you think Pepper yelled enough already. She is probably yelling as we speak, but she won't be done. Trust me" she said smirking.


	18. Chapter 18

It took them about 45 minutes to get to Stark Tower. The others already went up to the penthouse, but like every Stark building the elevator had a special access pad that Skye could activate with her finger print. The two lovers parked the car in the underground garage and took the elevator to reunite with the others. During their ride up Grant placed his arm around Skye pulling her into a hug, reassuring her that he wasn't upset anymore. He was sure she understood her mistake and would never do it again. There was no real point staying mad. Besides they had a few days just to themselves and they didn't need to pretend. It would be really foolish if they would spend it fighting. He also needed to show her that he trusted her. Before the reached their destination Grant looked into Skye's eyes and kissed her lovingly. Skye moaned into the kiss and practically melted against him. Oh how she loved that man. Yeah, she was with other men before him, but none ever managed to make her feel so loved and wanted like him. Sometimes she even wondered why he picked her. Once she asked him and he could only reply by asking her the same question – what did he ever do to deserve her? What made her love him? There were so many things that made her love him. He was kind, loving, he was a big softie at heart, he cherished her, he always protected her and put her needs before his. He would gladly die for her and he would most certainly kill for her. Whenever he spoke like that to her she felt like she loved him even more. So when he wanted to know her answer to why she loved him she had a million and one reason to why. And he could only say that he loved her because of everything she is – she was his light, his life, his one true love. She deserved everything he could give her and much more. He vowed that he would do even the impossible to make her happy so that she would never regret looking at such a poor bastard like he was.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. They could already hear Pepper yelling at Tony from inside the elevator as they approached the top floor. They got out and greeted their team, who were sitting on the couch while Happy offered them refreshments and some snacks.

"So, how long has she been yelling?" Skye asked Happy.

"Since we left the air strip" he replied.

"Ok. They either stop soon and come out or they have some angry sex. Either way, I'm dying for some cheesecake. Do we have some?" Skye said following Happy into the kitchen.

"That was informative" Trip said.

"Yeah, I don't think I wanted to know that" Fitz joined in.

"Trust me, none of us wanted to know this" May pointed out.

"So, are you two good?" Coulson asked the specialist.

"Yeah, Skye promised she wouldn't do anything so reckless ever again" Grant explained.

"And you believe her?" Trip asked raising an eyebrow.

"I trust her and she gave me her word, so yes I believe her" Grant defended his girlfriend.

"OH MY GOD!" Skye yelled out in the kitchen startling everyone in the living room. Grant wanted to run towards her to see if she was alright, but then she came out with a plate full of cheesecake. Her face was stuffed with it and she tried to speak but couldn't.

"Eat first, then speak" Grant told her chuckling. Skye swallowed what she had in her mouth quickly to be able to tell them what she wanted.

"Guys you need to try this cheesecake! It's like eating heaven" she beamed.

"I'm sure it's good, but heaven..." Grant tried to say when Skye shoved a spoon of cheesecake into his mouth. He ate the piece of cheesecake and smiled brightly. "Oh my god, your right. This is delicious. Can I have some more?"

"Sure" Skye said and gave him another spoon full of the delicious cake.

Grant ate it quickly and sat down on the couch with Skye on his lap. They shared what Skye had on her plate enjoying not only the delicious treat but also each others closeness. When the plate was empty Skye hopped off of his lap and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a big glass of milk and returned to the living room where she sat back into Grant's lap. Skye shared her milk with Grant and after they were finished Grant leaned back on the couch and Skye snuggled closely to him.

"Seems like the kiddies are ready for their nap" May said and everyone laughed, except Grant and Skye who just pouted, which made the others laugh even harder.

"I'm glad that at least someone is happy" Tony said, coming into the living room.

Everyone turned to look at him while he sat down next to Grant and Skye.

"I see you are still alive" Skye commented.

"Yeah, but I'm on parole. How about you? Agent Super spy didn't give you a lecture" he asked. Grant rolled his eyes at the nickname. Wasn't it enough that Skye always gave him those nicknames, now Tony Stark had to join her madness too?

"First of all, don't call my boyfriend Agent Super Spy. It is my job and my job only to give him these adorable nicknames. Second, dibs on the nickname. Third, we talked, he never yelled, we just talked. And I promised I would behave from now on. Something you should consider as well" Skye told him.

"Gimme a break, you'll never stop racing. It's in your blood. Unless..." he stopped talking looking at her. "Are you pregnant?"

"No! Geez, do I need to be pregnant or sick to make the right decision? We just talked and I agreed, well we both agreed we would never risk our lives for something stupid and reckless. Can we please drop the matter now?" she asked exasperated.

"Sure. But you have to promise me something" Tony told her.

"What?" she asked annoyed.

"When you get pregnant I will be the first to know."

"Of course, and only after you know I will tell the father of my child about the good news" she said sarcastically.

"Exactly."

"Are you out of your mind? Of course I'm not gonna tell you first. If anyone should find out first it's Grant, not you, you dill hole" she said furious.

Up until then the team watched them amused, but when Skye mentioned she would tell Grant about a possible pregnancy first they all looked at them curiously. When Skye said that Grant would find out first, he had to wonder how it would be like to get those news. He knew they agreed to wait, but he still wondered. He was convinced that Skye would be a great mom, and even though he had no clue how to be a dad he would do his absolute best to be the best dad he could be. At that thought Grant blushed slightly but managed to regain his posture quickly. In the meantime Skye and Tony started fighting. They really looked like two siblings fighting over a toy.

"What the hell is going on now?" Pepper shouted.

"He started it" Skye accused Tony.

"No, she did. I didn't do anything" Tony defended.

"Yes you did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Stop it, both of you. If not I'm going to stop this for you. Actually, that's exactly what I will do. Skye go to your room. And you are not allowed out until lunch is ready, which should be at least in another hour. And to make sure I'll be done by that time Tony will help me. Tony, move it" Pepper said angrily and walked towards the kitchen.

The others looked between Pepper, Tony and Skye, amused by the family interaction. Before Pepper completely disappeared in the kitchen she yelled again for Skye to get to her room. Skye saluted, even though Pepper couldn't see her anymore and left to go to her room. Grant followed her, leaving the rest of the team alone in the living room. They sat back down smiling. Happy entered the room and offered them cheesecake slices.

"Are they always like this?" Jemma asked amused.

"Yes, although sometimes they are worse than now" Happy explained.

In Skye's room. Skye sat down on her queen size bed looking up to the ceiling. Grant entered her room and looked around. It looked like a crossover between Disney princess chamber and the inside of her van. In other words – it looked just like Skye. He took a seat next to her looking up. Her ceiling looked like any other ceiling. He wanted to ask her what was so fascinating but then she got up and took a remote control. She closed the blinds to her window and sat back down next to Grant.

"Care to explain?" he asked.

"Nope" she said smiling, leaning on her back pulling her with her. She pointed towards the ceiling and now Grant understood what she was looking at. Her ceiling looked like the night sky covered in thousand little stars. It was very detailed, there was the moon, in the distance a part of the sun, Orion's belt, Ursa major... it looked just like the night sky. He was fascinated.

"You like it?" she asked.

"Yeah. This is amazing. But how?"

"Tony designed it for me. I had something similar in L.A., before the Mandarin blew up our house."

"Are you and Stark always like this?"

"You mean crazy Yeah. We fight a lot, but we can't stay met with each other for long? We always forgive each other no matter what."

"You know, the two of you have the strangest relationship in the history of ever" he said smiling at her.

"Yeah, we get that a lot" Skye said laughing. "So, I have to stay here for at least an hour. What shall I do all by myself?" Skye asked in a seductive voice.

"Well, I know a few things we could do together. Pepper never said you had to be all by yourself..."

"That's right. She never mentioned I had to stay in here alone. That reminds me..." Skye trailed of, getting of the bed and walking towards her closet. She opened it and found her suitcase inside. She grabbed it and went into the bathroom. Before she closed the door she told Grant she would be out shortly and he should make himself at home. Said and done. Within seconds Grant got rid of his shoes, his socks, his shorts and finally his pants, keeping only his briefs on. Skye however decided to wear something special she bought with the girls when they were out shopping. She chose a black lace bra and a black string. She let her long curls fall down her shoulders and decided to put on a show for Grant. She remembered the last time she was at Stark Tower she left a pair of black high heels in the bathroom cabinet. If no one took them out they probably still were there. And she was lucky. She put them on and left the bathroom. When Grant saw her he swallowed hard. He had seen her in her underwear or naked plenty of time but every time felt like the first. She simply took his breath away and he thanked all the gods for creating such a perfect being. The moment he laid eyes on her he wanted to rip her clothes of and wrap himself around her, never letting her go. Before he could move she reached for the remote again and put on some music. It was soft, barely audible, but it was there. Skye sat the remote back down and started walking towards him in a slow pace, swaying her hips from side to side, mesmerizing Grant. Grant wanted to get up from where he sat, but Skye prevented him. She placed her right index finger on his shoulder pushing him back down, indicating that he had no business in getting up. She started dancing in front of him, ever so slow and seductive, that it drove him crazy. The only thing he wanted was her, to feel her, to touch her, to bury himself inside her, becoming one with her. Skye climbed into his lap continuing to sway and grind against him. She started kissing his neck, his face, she traveled lower to his firm chest placing soft kisses on his warm skin and making him shiver. He couldn't resist any longer and he started touching her. He caressed her body, he kissed her hungrily, he moaned into her mouth. His erection started to become unbearable, but Skye wouldn't let him get it done. She pushed him into the mattress and started kissing and caressing his entire body. She told him that this time was all about him. When she reached his waistline she discarded his briefs and admired his erect manhood in front of her. Damn, she was one lucky girl. She placed a soft kiss on his tip and started licking and sucking softly. The more she took in the quicker her pace became and it didn't take long and Grant came inside her mouth hard. It took him several minutes to come down from the high she took him, but when he finally did she snuggled into his side, smiling that she could do this for him. He usually did all the work, but this time she wanted to do it.

"Thank you, baby" he breathed heavy "that was amazing." He kissed her temple, still panting after the very intense orgasm he just had.

"I'm glad you liked it" she said smirking, clearly satisfied with her work.

"I hope the others didn't hear me . I was kinda loud."

"Yeah you were, but don't worry, the rooms are sound proof. We can be as loud as we want in here and no one will ever know" she said with a playful grin on her face.

"Oh really. That's interesting. Maybe we should verify this theory of yours, just to be sure." Skye laughed. He leaned down and kissed her passionately. Before Skye knew it he got rid of the clothes she was wearing and buried himself deep inside of her. By the time lunch was ready Skye and Grant went for round four already, when they decided it was time to take a little break, to grab a bite to eat. They needed all their strength if they intended to fully take advantage of the oversized bed they had at their disposal. Not that they weren't creative when it came to lovemaking, especially on the Bus, but how can you resist a bed that was practically made for them and their encounters between the sheets. They got dressed and made themselves presentable and left the room, holding hands.

The team as well as Tony and Pepper just gathered in the dining room, getting ready to eat lunch. Skye sat down next to Jemma and Grant right beside Skye. Lunch was rather uneventful, Tony and Skye and sometimes Pepper shared stories about their life together, some stories were serious, others were really funny. Then the team shared some stories as well. All in all, everyone had a great time, which was after all the goal of their little private party. After lunch Pepper showed everyone to their respective bedrooms minus Grant who obviously shared one with Skye. Tony and Pepper let the team get some rest and promised them a fun night. With that they left them and returned to their own bedroom.

"Ten bucks they have make up sex Skye said, when Happy walked by."

"Skye" Coulson warned "that's not really polite."

"You're right. I'm sorry. Fifty bucks" she turned back to Happy.

"You're on" Happy replied.

"How can you know if you are right?" May asked her surprised.

"Tony has the most obvious sex face in the history of sex" Skye explained. "I lived for five years with the guy, I know even the different kinds of sex faces. But that's in the next episode" Skye said and pulled Grant into her bedroom, before closing and locking the door. The others laughed and then went to their own bedrooms for a little siesta after lunch.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N Disclaimer I do not on Ed Sheeran s sond I see fire. But I love it. I hope you like this chapter. I certainly loved writing it. R&R

After their siesta Tony showed them around, mainly in his shop were he had several Iron Man suits and decided to also show them the ball room. They took the elevator and quickly got to the 10th floor. Although the room was far from being finished, it already looked festive and the girls couldn't wait for the party to start. Even though the purpose of the party was to get in touch with their allies, no one could deny that a little party wouldn't be nice. Coulson and Grant talked to Tony about surveillance and if the billionaire used proper bugs. He of course explained that Rogers, Romanoff and Barton did a great job bugging the room, while he connected them to Jarvis' system.

When they finally finished inspecting every corner of the room Skye dragged Grant outside telling him they should go and visit Liberty Island, the way they planned. At first the team wanted to join, but May being as perceptive as ever made it a point that she needed to talk to Coulson about something classified and asked if Stark could show FitzSimmons his gadgets, knowing that the two scientist were dying to ask that themselves, but were shy to do so. Pepper taking the hint encouraged Tony to do that, while she asked Happy to take her to the supermarket to buy the necessary supplies for dinner.

Skye and Grant took the same car as before and drove down to the harbor, where they took Tony's boat to get to Liberty Island. Just like the elevator, the boat was easy accessed by Skye using finger print analysis. The two of them joined a small group of tourists and learned a lot of fun facts about the island and the statue. After nearly three hours there they decided to get back to Stark Tower, but on the boat they decided to delay there return and just relax a little on deck, while bathing in the warm sun. It felt so peaceful and so natural that both sighed in annoyance when Skye's phone rang. She picked it up and heard Coulson's voice.

"A.C., what's up?" she asked cheerful.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"On Tony's boat. Grant and I visited Liberty Island and are heading back to Stark Tower. Is there a problem?" she asked a little concerned.

"No, Pepper just asked me to call you and tell you to stop by that ice cream shop you both like and grab some for dessert."

"Sure. We'll be back in an hour" Skye replied, letting out a sigh of relief. She hung up and looked at Grant who was watching her lovingly.

"What?" she asked when he still stared at her.

"Nothing. It's just the sun seemed like a halo around you and I remembered Asgard and that tower. You look so beautiful and I have to thank the universe that I got you" he said softly and leaned in to capture her lips.

"You are such a softie sometimes" she said giggling. She placed another kiss on his lips before she got up and started the engine.

It didn't take them long and they reached the ice cream store and bought several boxes with several flavors and returned to Stark Tower. Back in the living room they smelled something delicious and felt their mouths watering when Pepper entered the adjoining dining room with a plate of pasta, followed closely by Simmons and May who helped set the table. Skye quickly noticed that there were more plates on the table than people in the room and when she asked Tony told her that Romanoff, Barton and Rogers were on their way there.

"That's three. But there are four extra plates. Who's the forth person" she asked, but got her answer when the elevator door opened. The two SHIELD agents and the Captain stepped outside, followed closely by none other than Bruce Banner. Upon seeing him Skye squealed and threw herself into the scientist arms.

"What a greeting" Bruce said chuckling. "Hello baby girl. How are you?" he asked her putting her down and placing a kiss to her cheek.

"Hello Bruce. So glad to see you. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

"How many?" she asked, knowing he would understand.

"97" came his reply.

"Does anyone know what they are talking about?" Fitz asked.

"How many days since his last incident" Barton explained.

"Oh gracious, it speaks" said Stark mockingly. "The bird speaks. I didn't know that hawks speak. I mean I've heard of parrots..." he got interrupted when Romanoff slapped him over the back of his head.

"Serves you right" Pepper said smiling at Natasha.

They quickly greeted each other and sat down enjoying a fine home cooked meal. During dinner they spoke about different things, trying to avoid as much SHIELD and doomsday talk as possible. At some point the team wanted to know when and where Skye met Banner.

"Oh, I think it was the week after the battle. I came back here to check on Tony and Pepper and found him sitting on the couch" Skye explained.

"I'm so sorry you had to see me like that" Bruce said remorseful.

"See you like what?" Jemma asked curious.

"The other guy" Bruce said in a low voice. Everyone knew by now that the other guy was the Hulk.

"Wait hang on, Skye met you when you were the Hulk?" Fitz asked surprised. "What happened?" he asked, remembering Banner's apology.

"Nothing happened" Skye answered. "He feels bad that I saw him like that. Tony wasn't there and Bruce, well Hulk, thought that he might hurt me if I got any closer. He backed away, but I got closer to him" she said like it was the most normal thing.

"You did what?" Coulson, Grant and May asked at the same time alarmed.

"Chill, nothing happened. Tony was in the bedroom with Pepper. He had to calm her after they told her about what went down during the battle. At some point the story triggered something and Bruce changed. Tony took Pepper away, before she might get hurt."

"Why didn't you back away? I mean no offense Bruce, but..." Coulson said, looking apologetically towards Banner.

"No problem."

"Yes problem" Skye said outraged. "You are not a monster."

"Yes I am, sweetie."

"Matter of opinion" she continued. "You never hurt me and god knows how many times you changed into the other guy because of me."

"To clarify that" Tony started "Skye believed that if she could spend enough time with Bruce as the Hulk they could train his anger. So that he wouldn't snap and become a raging killing machine."

"That's absurd and dangerous" Coulson, again apologizing to Banner.

"Don't worry. I agree" Bruce assured Coulson.

"How can you agree? I mean it really works. You never even flinched when you were the Hulk and I touched you. You recognize me and we even talk. You know right from wrong and we play together. And correct me if I am wrong, whenever I turned you into Hulk I always managed to turn you back. So, I would say it was a huge success. You are not a monster, you are just like a child that needs to be educated. And that's what I did" Skye finished explaining.

"Weren't you afraid?" May asked her.

"Huh" Tony scoffed "she has no idea what fear is. Just ask her what her idea of playing with the Hulk is?" he encouraged the others to ask.

"Please, don't. I just managed to forget that" Pepper said, holding her head in her right hand.

"What is it?" Barton asked, curious to know how a girl, not even a SHIELD agent, played with a raging beast such as the Hulk. Not even Romanoff dared to get too close to him in that state. So he honestly wondered.

"I'm not telling. I'm ashamed the other guy does that. It's dangerous and you could seriously get hurt" Bruce told them.

"Come on, worst case scenario?" Skye asked.

"You could die" he told her concerned.

"Please, you would never kill me. You love me. And you know who loves me more than you? The other guy. We have so much fun together. And if you refer to that incident when you threw me of the roof, come on, I can fly. Besides, it's good for you. Whenever you change now you are. Ore in control of yourself than before. Or didn't you tell me that?" she asked him putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, but..." he tried to reason with her.

"No buts" Skye said definitive.

"Dr. Banner as much as I agree with you and thank you for reasoning with her, you can't change Skye's mind. Although I hope she will give up on training you, well the other guy, since it's dangerous and reckless. We did already have a similar talk on that subject" Grant said calmly.

"First of all, it's not the same. Second, I'm not training the Hulk I'm helping him with his anger management. And third, I'm in no danger. And if all of you would shut up and think for a second you would understand that what I did had a purpose. It wasn't just for Bruce, but for you too. Tony, you know how many times I had broken bones and was injured one way or another. Pepper you too. So did you really think that whatever the Hulk did to me could be worse than the injuries I already experienced. No. And I was careful. And for that I will demonstrate" she said standing up and pulling Bruce towards the terrace. She smacked him hard over his arm several times until he couldn't keep his cool any longer and changed into the Hulk. The others just looked horrified at what happened and didn't really know what to do. Grant begged Skye to get back to his site, where she would be safe, but she told him to stay there, to not move. Any of them. She then turned to Bruce and started talking to him.

"Bee, you hear me?" she asked softly. He nodded. "Good. I'm sorry for doing this to you, but they and most importantly you have to understand that I'm doing this to help you. You are the master of your own body, even if you feel that you are not. Do you understand?" she asked him. Again he only nodded. "In words, Bee."

"Yes."

"Can you forgive me?" she asked him smiling. She approached him and put her right hand on his face, which wasn't hard, since he sat down on the floor. To answer her question he nodded again, but when Skye shook her head he knew he was supposed to answer using words.

"I forgive you" he said as soft as he could and managed to smile down at her. The others just looked amazed by the interaction. None of them ever saw the Hulk that peaceful. "Sing?" he asked and Skye smiled even brighter.

"Only if you sing with me." He smiled again and they started singing. "_If this is to end in fire then we should all burn together. Watch the flames climb high into the night. Calling out father oh, stan by and we will watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side high. And if we should die tonight, we should all die together. Raise a glass of wine for the last time. Calling out father oh prepare as we will watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side. Desolation comes upon the sky. Now I see fire inside the mountain. I see fire burning the trees. I see fire hollowing souls. I see fire, blood in the breeze. And I hope you'll remember me._"

During the song Bruce only muttered a few words as he remembered them and while Skye sang the chorus he started changing back. By the time she finished he was back to his human self. Tony brought him a shirt and they joined the group on the couch.

"That was amazing" Barton said clearly impressed. "I never thought anyone could calm him down. No offense, man."

"It's ok. I have to admit Skye's methods are unorthodox, but they work. That doesn't mean that I'm not scared I might hurt you" he added quickly when he noticed that Skye was smirking triumphantly.

"I know. And I would thing something would be terribly wrong with you if you wouldn't. But as I said I know you and I trust you. And I love you" she said placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I love you too" he told her, returning a kiss on her cheek. She smiled warm at him.

"We have some questions" FitzSimmons suddenly shouted. The others looked at them surprised.

"You must be Agents Fitz and Simmons. Skye told me all about you" Banner told them and the two scientists smiled. "Well, go on, ask."

"I wanted to know, what do you feel when you are around Skye? We all know by now about her abilities. Do yo think it's because of them that she can calm you?"

"Well, I don't think it's because her abilities. Yes, she is angel like, but not because of the wings, but because she is good and pure. She seems to find light in the darkest parts of our selves. Whenever I'm with her I'm calmer than usual, even as the other guy. And when she starts singing to me I calm down so much that I turn back to myself. It's like being rocked to sleep by your mother, while she sings to you a lullaby" Bruce explained.

"Yeah, that's fascinating" Fitz said "but what were you singing" he looked at Skye.

"Oh that. That's Ed Sheeran's _I See Fire_" Skye told him. "It's from the second Hobbit movie and one of my favorite songs. There are several songs I sang to Bruce while he was the other guy, but we both like this one best, don't we" she asked looking at Bruce and he nodded in agreement.

After that was settled everyone decided to do something fun together. No more mission talks or science stuff just plain fun. Pepper suggested they play Pictionary. They divided into teams, girls vs. boys and Bruce decided to be the judge, even though the game didn't require one. They spend the entire evening having fun, deciding that both teams were equally good and called it a tie when it started getting late. Everyone returned to their bedrooms, happy and relaxed and anxious to see what tomorrow would bring them in the Stark household.


	20. Chapter 20

Skye half expected Grant to lecture her on what he learned regarding her special bond with Banner or better said the Hulk. She could tell that he wasn't really pleased. That's why she decided to show him and everyone that she knew what she was doing and that there was no reason for them to freak out about it. Especially since she now was so much more in control of her powers than she was when she first met him. She entered their bedroom and sat down on the bed waiting for him to yell at her or just stare her down. But she was more than surprised when he knelt down in front of her and placed his hands over hers, locking his gaze on her. His face was serious, but his eyes were both loving and concerned.

"Please don't do stupid things like that again. I know you want to help, but when I saw him change and you were near him, I thought I would lose you. I would die if anything ever happened to you" he told her and it broke her heart. She could handle yelling and lectures, even punishment through extreme training, but not this. She couldn't bare seeing him broken and desperate. It was so unusual for him. She always saw him as strong and courageous. Of course, by now she knew he was a big softie when it came to her. But this was different. She hurt him and she needed to make things right again.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you. I didn't mean to. But try to understand. Even then I knew about my powers. Part of them anyway. I knew I could heal easier than others. And let's face it, Tony has no powers and he wasn't afraid to bring the Hulk home. And before you say something" she quickly spoke when she saw him prepare a response to what she said "I meant it. I did it for him, but also for the rest of us. It really helped him. Whenever I'm with him his calm. Tony and Bruce have training sessions. Tony wearing his suit and Bruce becoming the other guy. I was there for most of their sessions. And it helped. He is more in control because of this training. Yes, there is always a risk, but don't tell me what you do is piece a cake, cause I don't believe that for a second. I know you are worried, but you can be sure that I would never do anything so stupid to risk my life for nothing. Besides, there is nothing more I can do for Bruce or the Hulk. I just lead him on the right path. The fact that he can now stand in a room full of people as the Hulk and not kill them is because of that training, but even more because of him. He now knows that he can control it. Until very recent he believed that during his Hulk phase he wasn't in control, but he is. He just needs to focus. And just that you know, I promise I won't provoke him anymore. I never liked it anyway, but it was necessary for the training" she finished her story and looked into his eyes. For the first time since they entered their bedroom he smiled.

"You are amazing. And I really don't care if you like it or not, but you are an angel. No one else in this world could have managed to do what you did. The agent in me wants to applaud your actions. You did very well. But the boyfriend in me just wants to keep you safe from any kind of harm. And I know I'm selfish, but I don't want to lose you" he told her and sealed her lips with his.

"You won't lose me" she said softly when they finally parted "but the same goes for you. No hero stuff, understood, Agent Ward" she said warningly. He smiled up at her and kissed her again.

"Understood. I love you, baby."

"I love you too. Come on, let's get some sleep. I'm so beat. You know, that SO of mine is a real pain in the butt. I thought we were on vacation, but today he worked me extra hard" she told him, trying to keep a serious face. "As my boyfriend you need to have a serious talk with that guy."

"I will" he said smiling. "Does this mean you are to tired for a little evening exercise?" he asked grinning.

"Depends. Do you ask as my pain in my butt SO or my beloved boyfriend?" she asked him with an equal wide grin on her face.

"What do you think?" he asked before he grabbed her and threw her on the mattress, covering her body with his own. He started kissing her passionately and before they knew it they were completely naked and locked securely in their own little love bubble. After three long rounds of passionate lovemaking Skye fell asleep in Grant's arms. He looked down at his sleeping angel and wondered how their lives would be like if they were three. With that thought in his mind he peacefully drifted into sweet slumber.

It was three in the morning when Grant felt movement in his arms. He opened his eyes adjusting to the dim light provided by the room's fake night sky. The beauty in his arms was tossing and turning, clearly having a nightmare. He reached to wake her when he heard her speak. At first he thought she was awake, but soon realized she was talking in her sleep.

"Grant, please don't go. Please, don't leave me. He is evil. He will kill you. Don't go, please" he heard her plead. When she started crying he couldn't bare it anymore and shook her lightly, as to not startle her. A moment later she woke up, panting heavily. She turned around in his arms and buried her tear soaked face into his bare chest. She was sobbing and the only thing he could think of doing was to run his hand up and down her back, as to reassure her that he was there and she was safe. When she finally calmed down he placed a soft kiss to the top of her head and asked her if she was alright. She just shook her head.

"Baby, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked her softly.

"Your old boss...he tried to get to you...he told you he would kill me if you didn't return to Hydra and to him. I don't want you to do that. Please, promise me you won't" she pleaded with him, looking up at him.

"Baby, it was just a bad dream. I would never go back to Garrett, and I was never part of Hydra. I will always stand by you" he assured her.

"He is evil. He tried to manipulate you. He said he would kill me in front of you if you didn't do as he says. But you can't, not ever. Please promise me you won't. No matter what. You know I can heal myself, but I would die if you would leave me" she said starting to cry again.

"I know, baby. I promise you. But please stop crying. He will never do that. And I will never give in. I will never ever leave you. I love you until my last breath. And probably even beyond that" he told her. She started calming down and Grant sighed relieved. They spent the next hour just in each others arms, in complete silence. They didn't need words. They just needed each other. And if Skye wanted to talk to him she would. He knew she needed some space, but was more than happy that she let him stay with her, even if that meant not speaking to one another.

"We need to defeat them" she finally spoke, ending the silence.

"And we will."

"From now on I will work harder to become an agent of SHIELD and bring those bastards down. SHIELD is my home now and you and the team, as well as the Avengers, Tony and Pepper are my family. No one messes with my family."

"I will help you" he told her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I know you will. Let's get some sleep. We will talk more in the morning, ok?"

"Okay. Close your eyes, baby. I'll be here when you wake up." She quickly fell asleep again, finally being able to rest after that terrible nightmare. She knew that in his arms she was safe and couldn't imagine how she would ever live if he wasn't there. But he was as though as they come. He was a specialist for a reason. He was one of the best agents SHIELD has, right after Romanoff. And she wanted to be just as good as they were. Even without her powers.

Grant thought about what she said. About Garrett trying to manipulate him to return to his side. He would never do that. If he wasn't going to do that the two years prior to him meeting her, he sure as hell wouldn't go back now. He not only loved her, but SHIELD was real to him, a real family. He swore when Fury forgave him almost three years ago that he would stay loyal to SHIELD and that he would fight against Hydra. Nothing would ever change that. But he also thought of what Garrett might do if he ever knew about Skye's abilities. He would try to take advantage of her. At that thought Grant tensed and pulled his sleeping angel even closer to his chest. He would die rather than let that happen. But he also made her a promise, never to leave her. Dying meant leaving her. He had to find a different way that didn't involve him dying. She was right. She needed to train harder. She was good already, but she needed to be better. Both as just Skye and her guardian self. If she managed to be better, a trained agent, he wouldn't worry so much about her during a fight. He could be sure that she would be able to protect herself if he couldn't. Not that he wouldn't do anything humanly possible to protect her. But during a fight you couldn't plan and most importantly you couldn't allow yourself to be distracted. He would train her and ask both May and Romanoff to help him. They were both women and could help her with things he couldn't. In the morning he would talk to the two senior agents about the matter. But for now he really needed to get some sleep. He looked down at her sleeping form and pressed a tender kiss to her temple before falling asleep.

Ward woke up almost five hours later. Skye was still fast asleep. He didn't want to wake her. He loved having her near him and he knew once they got up he had to share her with the others. He knew he was selfish, he even sounded like a jealous boyfriend, but he really didn't want to share her. He pulled her even closer to his chest, kissing the back of her neck.

"Uhm" she let out a satisfied sound "I love it when you wake me like this" she said with her eyes still closed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you" he apologized.

"Don't worry."

"You wanna get up?"

"And leave the strong and warm arms of my boyfriend? Nah, I rather stay here for a little while longer. Unless you want to get up."

"No. I love holding you in my arms" he told her sincerely. She turned around in his arms so that she could face him.

"Hey, baby" she told him looking deep into his eyes.

"Hey, honey. Did you sleep better?"

"Yeah. Whenever you are by my side I sleep like an infant. I know I'm always safe and protected when you are there."

"And I'll always be there to protect you. I love yo so much, that sometimes I'm afraid I might lose you, that you realize I'm not nearly good enough for you..." he started but was caught off by her lips crashing his. When they parted Grant rested his forehead on hers and looked deep into her eyes. She was smiling.

"Don't ever think or say that ever again. You are a wonderful man and I'm extremely lucky to have you. But I know what you mean. I feel the same sometimes. I love you so much, you can't even imagine. I never felt like this before. Yeah, I was infatuated, but it was never like this. And I know I might upset you, but I loved Miles, but it was more a friendship kinda love. You, you are the real deal" she finished pulling him closer and placing a loving kiss on his lips. He smiled into the kiss. She was right. He didn't like it when she spoke of her ex-boyfriend, but he had to admit that hearing her that he was the real deal, made his day. Actually more than that. After they stopped kissing he pulled her closer into his embrace and just breathed her in.

They cuddled for 20 minutes before both their stomachs protested unceremoniously. They laughed and got out of bed. They quickly put some clothes on and headed to the kitchen. To their surprise everyone else was out of sight. They figured since it was a mini vacation they probably enjoyed it and slept in. Skye went to the fridge, grabbing everything they needed for a nice, so not healthy, breakfast. Grant decided to give in, since they were off the clock. Besides, he rarely managed to deny her anything these days. Oh, he was so wrapped around her little finger. But he didn't mind. He never felt happier in his entire life. And if life taught him one thing you never know when something good comes to an end. Of course, he would do anything to stop that from happen, but Skye always told him that life is there to enjoy it. So that's what he is doing. Enjoying it. Next to a gorgeous woman.

"So, baby, what do you want for breakfast" he asked her smiling.

"Eggs, bacon, pancakes" came her response almost immediately.

"Really? Alright. Can you help me?" he asked.

"Sure."

They started preparing everything for their breakfast. It surprised him how well they always worked together. They completed each other every time, no matter the task. Was it in the field, during research, between the sheets or in the kitchen. Some might say they read each others minds, which wouldn't be that hard for Skye, but surprisingly that wasn't the case. It was like they were always on the same page. It felt like they had known each other for years, studying every move of the other, knowing habits and predicting behavioral patterns. He honestly loved that about their relationship. It didn't take long before they were done making breakfast and sitting down enjoying it. They always talked and laughed while preparing a meal. It felt so natural to them, that sometimes they forgot they weren't alone. Most times they were so focused on one another that none would sense another team member entering the kitchen or the lounge. They were in their own little world when they were together. But none of them really minded that.

They sat down next to each other and started eating their breakfast, still talking about little things. Skye tried to convince Grant to get a new X-Box and a few video games. She argued that it would be nice to play something else than Battleship or Scrabble.

"Since when do you hate Battleship?" he asked her pouting. She had to smile when she saw him.

"Baby, I don't hate Battleship. I love the game. It's our thing. But I would love to try something new. Come on. Give it a try. We can buy several games, to see what we like and what don't. It won't be just for us, but for the rest of the team as well. Come on. Please" she asked him, while she sat down on his lap, wrapping herself around his body. He smiled and placed his arms around her waist. He kissed the tip of her nose and they both knew he was a goner. She smirked in triumph and almost squealed when he kissed her firmly on the lips.

"How about we finish breakfast first" he said a moment later. She only nodded. When she tried to sit back down on her chair he stopped her. He decided it would be cute if he kept her there and fed her himself. Skye giggled and let him have his way.

After a long breakfast Grant and Skye returned to their bedroom getting ready for the day. By the time they returned to the living room everyone else was there too, having either breakfast or being involved in conversations.

"Good morning, entourage" Skye greeted everyone.

"Since when are we your entourage?" Barton asked her, raising one eyebrow.

"Since now" she said grinning.

They all greeted each other before Skye told them that she and Grant would go out and buy some video games and a new X-Box for the Bus. Coulson and May decided not to go, since it wasn't really there thing hanging out with the kiddies. To their surprise FitzSimmons decided to stay behind as well. They wanted to do some experiments alongside Stark and Banner. Romanoff however wanted to get out. So she decided for Barton and Rogers to join the couple. Although Grant hoped he would have Skye just to himself he accepted the situation and made her promise she would make it up to him later. To which she immediately agreed.

The five of them took the SUV. Grant wanted to get into the driver's seat, but Romanoff beat him to that. Skye jumped into the co-pilot seat, as she always called it, leaving the three men to sit on the backseat all pressed together, something that both women thought to be hilarious.

"So, where to?" Natasha asked.

"You remember the mall were we got that oversized vibrator?" Skye asked in return, ignoring the stunned expressions on the faces of their male friends.

"You mean the red one?"

"No, the black one. The Black Mamba" Skye said smirking.

"Ah. Now I know" replied Natasha, driving off.

The men on the backseat looked shocked and had no clue what to say or if they should say anything. Natasha and Skye barely managed to keep in together and not burst into laughter. A while ago they started doing these things, where they would say something inappropriate or embarrassing and make others, especially the men, very uncomfortable. The most fun the two of them had was when Fury was around. Even though he was their boss none of them cared. It was just to funny when they made jokes like this. Skye already told Natasha that they were going to a specific mall, but they wanted to have some fun with the uptight guys who we currently swallowing and cough in in the back if the car.

Thirty minutes later Natasha parked the car in the underground garage and grabbed Skye's hand. The girls went from one dress shop to another, trying to find a gown for the assassin. It took them only three hours, before they decided it was time to get back to the boys. However, Natasha thought it would be only fair if they would something back for the guys. They got into an adult store where they bought three pairs of handcuffs, wrapped as gifts. Skye remembered her promise to Grant and grabbed one teeny tiny outfit that would leave nothing open for imagination. They quickly paid for everything and went to meet with the guys.

The three men were left completely alone when the two women decided to ignore them while shopping. Grant went to the electronics department buying an X-Box and searched several games, all kinds of genre and difficulty. All in all he bought 10 games, hoping Skye would be pleased with them. When the girls finally returned and they ordered their food everything seemed fine again. Until the girls decided to give the guys their gifts. Both Natasha and Skye insisted that they open them right then and there, which all three of them did. The looks on their faces was priceless, Natasha taking several pictures of each guy. Grant blushed slightly, while Barton asked Natasha if they would try them out later, which she accepted right away. Steve looked confused at the handcuffs, not getting why the girls would buy him those. He wasn't a police officer. He didn't need them. But when Skye explained the real purpose of those handcuffs he turned into a giant tomato, hiding the cuffs immediately.

It wasn't before long and the five of them returned to Stark Tower, this time Grant managed to get into the driver's seat before Natasha, but she didn't mind. She already had only eyes for Barton and poor Steve felt more uncomfortable next to the assassins than pressed between two men, like on their way to the mall.

When Grant finally managed to get Skye into their bedroom, under the pretext he wanted to take a nap and asked her to join him, which FYI no one bought, he locked the door and turned around to look at Skye.

"Please tell me you didn't buy a Black Mamba" he said pointing at the bag, that clearly screamed sex shop.

"How about you find out" she said in a seductive voice while getting closer to him.

"If it is a giant fake dick I don't wanna see it" he whined, which made Skye laugh. She shook her head, grabbed the bag and went to the bathroom. She quickly got rid of her street clothes and put on the outfit she got. She found a bow on the top shelf in her bathroom and wrapped it around her chest. She entered the room, where Grant was currently lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. He knew she came back and half expected her to join him on the bed. When she didn't he turned to look at her. A wide grin spread on his face when he saw her. He instantly felt very uncomfortable in his pants. He stood up and quickly got to her.

"I hope you like this gift more than the other one" she said in a low, seductive voice.

"Oh, I love this gift. Can I unwrap it and play with it" he asked roaming his hands up and down her body, pressing himself closer to her.

"It is highly recommended" she told him and pulled him down to her lips, kissing him fiercely.

It didn't take them long and Grant unwrapped his gift tossing the sexy underwear on the floor along with his clothes. After round two of their lovemaking Grant decided to give the handcuffs a try. Skye was more than delighted. The others didn't get to see them until almost before dinner.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N. I'm sorry that it took so long to update. I'm not even come with lame excuses. I hope you like this chapter. And as usual reviews are much appreciated. :)

When Skye's stomach growled loudly both lovers decided it was time to get something to eat. Being close to dinner they half expected everyone to be either in the living room or in the kitchen preparing the meal.

FitzSimmons were enthusiastically chatting with Banner and Stark about all kinds of gadgets and experiments, while Barton and Rogers had a conversation about World War Two. Natasha and Pepper were in the kitchen preparing the meal, well Pepper prepared, Natasha watched. And Coulson and May were nowhere to be found. The couple greeted the others and went to the kitchen to offer Pepper their help.

„How can we help?" Grant asked her.

"I'm almost done. You can help set the table" Pepper answered. Grant reached for the plates in the cabinets, since Skye wasn't tall enough. She and Nat grabbed the rest and headed to the dining room. It didn't take long and the three of them were done, just in time when Pepper called Grant to help her in the kitchen. He hurried to help her since she cooked, what seemed, for an army.

After everything was set Natasha and Skye called the others and all of them sat down having yet another family meal.

"Gosh, Pep, this is delicious" Skye beamed.

"Thank you. You know I could teach you..." Pepper started but got interrupted when Coulson's entire team and Tony yelled "NO!"

"What is happening?" Bruce asked curious.

"She is a disaster in the kitchen" Natasha explained smiling.

"Yeah, when she's not burning the food, she burns down the kitchen" Barton explained even further.

"Hey, that never..." Skye protested, but continued in a lower voice "ok, once."

They all started laughing, which made Skye pout. Grant shifted closer to her, putting an arm around her and kissed her temple. She quickly forgot all about that and turned to give him a proper kiss.

"Get a room" Nat said, while throwing a slice of bread at them.

"Don't mind if we do" Skye returned with a grin.

"Hey, table manners" Tony said. "I don't want that image. You're my baby sis after all."

"Zip it" Skye replied. "You have some nerve, Tony. Talking to me about table manners. You were the one who slept half naked on the table after a wild party, not me."

"Eww" almost everyone shouted and jumped up, startling Skye and Tony. Both looked at them curious.

"What's wrong with you?" Skye asked them.

"Please, tell me Tony didn't do that on this table" Coulson asked.

"Not as far as I know" Skye answered.

"Not as far as I remember" Tony replied, grinning.

"Relax everyone. Those times are long gone" Pepper told them reassuringly. They all sat back down and Skye and Tony bursted into laughter. The others looked at them like they were nuts.

"What's so funny" May asked them.

"Nothing" both said at the same time.

"Come on, we wanna laugh too" Nat urged them to talk.

"Ok. Before I dropped out of high school I had this assignment... everyone had to make a home video about all kinds of love. You know the love between two lovers or mother and child. I chose to shoot a porn" Skye told them and let the information sink in. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at her like she grew another head.

"Excuse me, what?" Coulson asked shocked.

"You know...a porn video. It's sort of a love thing, right?" Skye asked innocently.

"You are joking" Jemma asked her, not able to believe that her friend would do that.

"Of course not. I still have the video. Wanna see?" she asked as if it was a normal thing to do.

"No" shouted the majority, but Nat and Barton were intrigued.

"Ok, hang on" Skye said and left to get her laptop from her bedroom. While she was gone Coulson argued with the two assassins that it was inappropriate, but he couldn't persuade them to stop. Grant looked absolutely horrified. Little did they know, that said porn video was actually something more innocent than they all thought. In fact, they thought that Skye was in the video. Which made it so much worse. Since both Pepper and Tony knew the truth and figured Skye wanted to prank the others, they left to wash the dishes in the kitchen. Skye shortly returned with her laptop in her arms. She put it on the table, connecting the feed to Tony's wide screen TV on the wall. She started the video and everyone waited to see her creation. It started with _Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a Skye Studio Production. True Love. Prepare to be touched._ Both Grant and Coulson looked as if someone hit them in the face when they read the message on the screen, anticipating that the next scene would be a very naked Skye with some guy. At the thought of Skye getting down with someone else Grant balled his fists and felt anger rise in his chest. He turned away from the screen, unable to look at his girlfriend with another man, when suddenly the entire room bursted into laughter. He turned to look to the screen and saw two chimpanzees dancing around each other. They were in a room, much like the one they were now, on a dining table. After a short dancing performance the female chimp lied on her back and the male chimp started...well getting cozy with her. The video wasn't longer than five minutes and everyone was still laughing when it stopped.

"So" Skye started talking looking at her friends "raise your hand if you thought that I was in the porn video."

_ Busted._ It was needless to say that everyone had that thought at some point, but refused to admit that. Skye laughed and closed her laptop. When she left the room Grant followed her quickly. He felt guilty and ashamed for what he had been thinking. He knew Skye could be crazy sometimes, but now that he thought about it...Skye in a porno? Never.

"Babe" he said softly, following her into their bedroom.

"Hm?" she hummed, putting her laptop on the desk before facing him. "What is it?" she asked him smiling brightly.

"I'm sorry" he said in a low voice, suddenly feeling the urge to look away. Only his training made him never drop his gaze.

"Sorry for what?" she asked confused.

"I thought... I mean... you..." he started to stutter. Skye realized what he thought and smiled.

"Good. So I can trick the big, kick-ass super spy" she told him placing her arms around his upper body, pulling him closer to her and kissing his jawline.

"What?" he asked dumbfounded.

"I knew you would all think that I was in that porn video. Well it's not really porn" she laughed. "I was wondering if I can trick you. And it seems I can" she kept smiling up at him.

„You really tricked me. I had to admit my mind raced to an very upseting image of you and another guy and..." he told her but he was interrupted when she placed her index finger over his lips.

"Were you jealous?" she asked him seriously. He nodded. "You don't have to be. I love you. And I would never betray you. As for a cinematic career, I'm not into it."

"I know you would never do that. Both things I mean. I trust you, but the sole thought of another man touching you makes my blood boil" he said getting angry. Skye reached up to cup his face in her right hand, smiling softly.

"You don't have to get angry, baby. I would never cheat on you and not just because I'm madly in love with my Robot, but also because I would never do anything like this. Period." She kissed his lips tenderly, trying to reassure him that she was his and his alone.

He leaned in and enjoyed their moment. When they parted Grant rested his forehead on hers and looked into her caramel colored eyes. They both smiled.

„We should go back to the others" Skye said. Grant nodded and lead her out of the room holding her hand in his.

When they returned they found most of the others watching a movie. Since everyone claimed a seat on either the couch or the armchairs, Grant and Skye sat on the floor, Ward leaning against Barton's legs and Skye leaning against Grant's chest. He held her closely to his body, kissing her neck every once in a while . Nothing sensual, only light kisses to remind her how much he adored her. Skye couldn't complain. He was just perfect. She was never into the expensive dates and gifts. Grant made her feel special by just holding her in his arms, especially when others were around. Or kissing her lightly, like the way he did when they were watching a movie or he stopped from reading in one of his books to press a gentle kiss on her cheek or temple, just because he could. She loved that. And he seemed to enjoy it too.

They all watched the movie, a romantic comedy, much to the male populations dislike, enjoying the carefree moment. They all knew that times like these were numbered. Even though they started preparing for the upcoming war against Hydra, they still had to be aware that things might not turn out the way they wanted. Therefore, they all decided in living the moment. At the fullest.

By the time the movie ended it was 10:30 pm. Tony and Pepper excused themselves and headed for their bedroom, assuring the others that it would be absolutely fine if they wanted to stay up longer or do something fun. FitzSimmons decided to head for their bedrooms, Coulson and May decided to engage in a game of chess, while Rogers and Banner walked outside to have a nice, quiet talk. The only ones left were Skye, Grant, Natasha and Clint. None of them were really tired so Grant suggested, much to Skye's horror, that they should go and check out Stark's gym.

"What? No" Skye whined. "We are on vacation. No training!"

"You don't have to do anything" Grant assured her.

"Yeah, right" Skye pouted. Grant chuckled and leaned in to kiss her. She was just to adorable when she did that.

"Oh, come on, Skye. It's not like for can't fight" Clint teased. "Or what? Are you a chicken?"

"Huh? Who's a chicken?" Skye asked furious.

"I think he is calling you a chicken" Natasha said, grinning. She knew that this comment would do the trick.

Skye stormed off towards the elevators. When the others got in she pushed the down button and the elevator took them to the floor with Tony's gym. They stepped outside and entered the still dark gym. Skye pushed a code into a security panel and suddenly all the lights went on, revealing a state of the art gym. On both sides of the main entrance to the gym were lockers. On the left for women, on the right for men. They went in to change, finding that Stark had training suits in all sizes. When they all gathered in the gym Skye gave them the grand tour, since the others never saw it before. Stark had everything you could wish and hope for. Grant decided a little sparring was in order, while Clint, obviously, went to the archery range. The three agents were so focused on what they were doing that they practically ignored Skye. Which was fine with her. She walked over to the climbing wall. She pushed a couple of buttons on the panel next to the wall, which were primarily adjusting the difficulty while climbing. Skye was half way up when Clint saw her climbing in a very dangerous angle and called out to her, capturing both Natasha's and Grant's attention. The moment Grant saw her climbing the wall, without any kind of ropes, that would obviously prevent her from getting seriously injured he rushed over to the wall, half concerened and half angry at how reckless she was again.

"Kiddo, whacha doing?" Natasha asked her a little amused.

"Climbing" came the answer.

"Would you mind to explain why you climb a wall without any ropes or safty net beneath?" Grant asked in a leveled voice, but Skye knew he was pissed.

"Would you relax, Grant? I know for are concerned, but babe, even if I fall, which I won't, since I've been doing this since I was five, just FYI, I'm not that high. And even if I would climb this very building and loose my balance and fall you still don't have to worry since I don't know if you remember, but I've got wings. So how exactly can I get injured" she pointed out never looking down, continuing on her way up.

Grant hated to admit it, but she outsmarted him. She was right. He got so concerned about her safety that he actually forgot about her abilities and special features as Skye liked to call her wings.

"Alright, you win. But be carefull, nevertheless" he asked her.

"I'm always carefull" she answered.

The three agents watched her as she conquered the top of the wall applauding when she sat down and waved at them.

"So? Anyone wanna join me? The view here is awesome" she said smiling down at them.

"How about for get down and show me if your shooting skill has improved" Clint asked her.

"You are teaching her to shoot?" Grant asked, incredulous. He still couldn't teach her the difference between the safety release and the magazine release.

"Don't sweat, I'm talking about archery. You know me" Clint said grinning. Grant smiled back and nodded. So Clint taught her to shoot arrows. Now that His something he had to see. If she was as "talented" using a bow as she was using a gun then "hello brother".

The trio waited for Skye to get back down, but instead she stood now on the edge of the wall and within moments she jumped down circling several times in the air, before landing like a feather before them. Since neither of them expected to see something like that they all felt their jaws drop. Skye smirked at them and went to get a bow, followed closely by the others as they regained their composure.

"How'd for do that, kiddo?" Clint asked.

"Practice" she answered, while getting ready.

"What do you mean by practice?" Grant asked.

"It's not the first time I do this. And don't worry, Grant, if I wouldn't be in control of my own powers I wouldn't risk hurting myself" she grabbed his hand and kissed him softly on the lips. "Now, let me show you what the famous Hawkeye taught me" she said smiling, taking her place. The others stepped behind her watching her. Clint watched her as she prepared to shoot, holding back any comment, allowing her to concentrate. If she would screw up he would make sure to correct any mistake. They watched her as she breathed in and let go of the arrow which hit it's target at the centre.

"You practiced" Clint aknowledged.

"A couple of times, yeah."

"Where?" asked Grant curious.

"Sometimes on the Bus, not while flying but mostly whenever I went to Asgard. But I doubt I practiced more than three hours in total. I was never really able to. But I remember each of our lessons and tried my best to not disappoint you" she told Clint. He would never admit it out loud, but he was really proud of her.

"Just that I understand" Grant started "you try your best with Hawkeye, for learn to fight from the Black Widow, but you never pay attention when I explain something" he finished, trying to pull a "you really hurt my SO feelings" expression.

"Oh, come on, baby. It's not like I don't listen to you, but it's not my fault you look so damn hot in your tight T-Shirts. It's actually your fault not mine" she told him nonchalantly. Her comment seemed to render him speechless, which amused the two assassins to no end.

They continued sparring for another hour, switching partners every once in a while. Even though she learned some moves from Natasha, Grant couldn't but feel proud of his rookie. She really did improve and having several great teachers only helped her to find her own style. He could easily tell that even though she used many of Natasha's fighting techniques, Skye would still go back to the basics that he taught her, which made him smile.

After they finished they went to grab their clothes and headed back to their own bedrooms, where they would shower peacefully, returning the gym clothes the next day. Natasha and Clint left the younger couple and rushed to the bedroom, each wanting to be the first to shower. Skye only smiled at their antics. Grant shook his head and put an arm around Skye's shoulder leading her into their bedroom. They both got rid of their clothes and walked into the shower together. After all, they already saw each other naked and it would be such a shame to waste water, when they could shower together.


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning Skye woke up first. She blinked several times before she was able to open her eyes properly. She felt a familiar warmth behind her, smiling to herself when she pulled Grant's hand up to her lips placing a soft kiss to the back of it. Although the kiss was soft Grant felt it and woke up. Skye cursed herself for waking him. He always woke up so early. She really wanted to give him some more time to rest.

"I'm sorry I woke you up" Skye apologized.

"Don't be" he said in a hoarse voice from all the sleeping. "I love it when my girlfriend wakes me with a kiss" he continued placing soft kisses to the back of her neck. Skye smiled and turned around to face him.

"Mornin' handsome" she said.

"Good morning to you, sweetheart" he greeted before planting a firm kiss on her lips.

Like so many other mornings since they became a couple Grant and Skye spent several minutes kissing each other senseless before actually getting out of bed and starting their day. Today was no different. Except for the party later that day. Skye hopped out of bed and put her clothes on, while Grant stretched a couple of times to wake even the last bit of him.

"What are you smirking at?" he asked.

"You do realize that when you do that I can barely keep my hands off of you?"

A wide grin spread over his face knowing full well what she meant.

"Aren't you insatiable" he commented. She only nodded smiling like a dork. "Come on, let's get a bite to eat. I'm starving. That rookie of mine kept me up all night and now I'm all drained. I need to recharge my batteries" he stated, trying to look serious while doing so. Skye had to chuckle when he made the robot reference.

"See? I knew it. You are a robot."

"Whatever you say, rookie."

They left their bedroom and headed for the kitchen, where they found Coulson and May drinking their coffee.

"Morning" Skye greeted.

"Good morning, Sir, Agent May."

"Good morning" both senior agents said at the same time.

"You are up early" Coulson said looking towards Skye.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep any longer. I know. Strange. I think it's because I don't have to get up that my body just messes with me" she said frowning.

"Your body is used to our workout schedule" Grant explained, while handing her a mug of coffee.

"My body is dumb" she replied taking the mug. The two senior agents just looked between their two younger team members and smiled. Who would have thought when they first met that they would be sitting in Tony Stark's kitchen drinking coffee, while listening to their specialist and their hacker talking about sleeping hours and training schedule. It seemed to them that the whole interaction wasn't real.

"Morning everyone" Jemma greeted when she entered the kitchen followed closely by Fitz. She went to get herself some coffee, while Fitz took a seat next to Coulson. She joined the others shortly and started drinking her coffee without even looking at them.

"So, did you two sleep well?" Skye asked them with a grin on her face.

"What?" Fitz asked startled. "I mean…I slept well…I don't know if …uhm…Jemma slept well. I mean how could I know, you know?" stuttered Fitz, causing the others who weren't paying attention until then to look over to the male scientist.

"Uhum… so you are saying you slept well" Skye continued. "How about you Jemma? Did you sleep well?" she asked her friend.

"Well, you know…what would really be considered well? I mean it can mean that you had a good night sleep or a …" Jemma continued like that for another minute before Skye interrupted her.

"It looks like you didn't sleep well" Skye stated looking serious at her friend "you know what helps me when I can sleep?" she asked.

_Please, don't say sex, please_ thought Grant.

"Warm milk" Skye said and Grant let out a sigh of relief "or hot sex with Grant." _Damn it_.

"I so did not need to know that" Coulson said, getting up and leaving the kitchen, followed closely by May, who had an amused look on her face.

The two scientists looked shocked and flustered, while Grant rested his head in his left palm.

"Did you really have to say that?" asked Grant, his voice slightly muffled.

"Yep" answered Skye, popping the "p".

"Ward is right. It's not an appropriate place nor time to discuss such matters" Jemma said embarrassed.

"Ok. I'll stop to talk about that if you stop pretending there's nothing going on between you two" Skye said her gaze turning from Jemma to Fitz.

"What are you talking about?" Jemma asked.

"Well, you and Fitz are an item."

"No, we are not. We are two people, not objects."

"You know what I mean, so cut the crap."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do. You and Fitz like each other. A lot. And you are together."

"No, we are not."

"Oh, bloody hell, Jemma" Fitz yelled out loud. "Just tell them."

"Tell us what?" Grant asked curious.

"Oh my god, are you pregnant?" Skye asked, only to tease them a little more.

"What? No! I mean…" Jemma tried to explain.

"Oh my god, Jem" Skye squealed, got up, grabbed Jemma's hand and dragged her to her bedroom, leaving the two men alone in the kitchen.

"Fitz" Grant said to gain his friend's attention. "You know we are friends." Fitz nodded. "And you can tell me anything." Fitz nodded again. "But I will respect your privacy if you choose not to answer." Fitz nodded again. "Are you and Jemma together?"

"Yes. We kinda had this coming for a while, but while you and Skye were on Asgard we… well you know." It was Grant's turn to nod this time. They didn't need words to understand each other. Grant got up and went to sit next to Fitz. He patted his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

"As I said, you are my friend and if you ever need anything I'll be there for you. But if you hurt Jemma I will hurt you, understand." Fitz swallowed hard, but nodded. "I love you all like you were my family. Actually, you are my family. You are like a younger brother and Jemma is like my baby-sister. I want the best for both of you."

"Thank you, Ward. This means a lot. When we found out about the lies, I mean, you know Hydra and you being part of it and then not and the whole thing with Skye, I don't know, I felt like everything that happened to us was fake."

"Not everything. At least not how I feel about you guys. But I get where this is coming from. Let's make a deal, from now on we talk about stuff. I will share my past and you will share yours. No more secrets, ok?" Grant suggested.

"Ok. Deal" said Fitz, stretching his hand out for Grant to take and shake.

"So, am I going to be an uncle?" Grant asked.

Meanwhile in Skye's bedroom. The girls sat down on the king sized bed, legs crossed underneath them and facing each other. Skye had a huge grin on her face, while Jemma looked away.

"So, are for going to say something or not?" Skye asked her friend. Jemma remaind silent. "Oh, come on Jem. I was just teasing. I know you are not pregnant. But, Jemma, please, for are my best friend and I miss you. We haven't had a girls night like in forever" Skye told her seriously.

"I know and I missed you too. It's just so strange. After you and Ward left we kind of started to admit our feelings for each other" Jemma started to tell Skye.

"That's great. About time."

"Yeah, but it's comlicated. We work together and even if a romantic relationship wouldn't be against protocol, there's always the risc that it wouldn't work out between us and then what? One of us has to leave the team..."

"I get that, but what if you don't give it a try? In my experience I'd rather take a wrong turn than wonder what if. Do you like him?"

"Yes, a lot actually. And I think he likes me too."

"You bet he does. I saw you two. You are made for each other. And in the end if you really work hard on your relationship I doubt it won't work. You just need to have faith and work hard" Skye told her reassuringly.

"Is this what you and Ward are doing?"

"More or less. It's hard sometimes, I admit. We are as different as rain and fire, but we love each other and we work hard for this relationship to work. We have ups and downs, but tell me what relationship doesn't? When we were in Asgard and we confessed our feelings towards each other I was afraid that it might not work, but I realized that I'd rather have one moment with Grant then and there, than live for the rest of my life wondering what if. And if my opinion counts..."

"It does" Jemma said quickly.

"I think for and Fitz make a cute couple. You two should give it a try."

"Well, we kinda already did. Nothing intimate" Jemma quickly added, when she saw Skye smirking.

"It's ok. You will find your own rhythm. Every relationship is different. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And if you need anything, I'm here for you" Skye said, placing her hand over Jemmas.

The two girls spend the next hour talking, making up for some lost time. They really missed having their girl time. And both promised to make this a regular thing. Besides, now that they both had boyfriends they could spend hours talking about how clueless their men could be. Especially Fitz.


	23. Chapter 23

After the girls had their chat they returned to the kitchen to grab something to drink. Obviously the guys left the kitchen and went to take a seat on the balcony. Skye and Jemma joined them, Jemma taking a seat next to Fitz, while Skye placed herself in Grant's lap.

"So, did you girls have a nice time?" Grant asked.

"Yeah, we did. I really missed talking to Jem."

"Me too" Jemma added.

"How about you? Did you have a chat as well?" Skye asked the two men.

"Yeah, we did" answered Fitz smiling. "Grant and I agreed the four of us should do something together sometime."

"Like what?" asked Jemma curiously.

"We thought of camping" Grant answered her.

"Really?" asked Skye, not really into it.

"Yeah" Grant could see her disliking the idea "come on, babe, give it a try" he almost begged.

"When and where?" she asked further.

"We don't know yet" Fitz jumped in. "Either we go in the next week or so or ..." he stopped, not knowing how to continue. They didn't know when the next time for camping would arise. Skye sensed that and answered for him.

"Who knows when, once Hydra makes a move." The others only nodded. "Then I'll say we do it in the next couple of weeks. But not really camping. Well, sort of. Tony has this cabin in the Rocky Mountains. It's not big, but we could all go, including May and Coulson. Unless, you guys don't want them to come with us" Skye explained.

"I'm ok with them coming along" Grant told her.

"So am I" Jemma joined in.

"Me too" came from Fitz.

"Ok then. I'll talk to Tony, to see if we could use the cabin for a few days."

"Sounds like a plan, baby."

"But do you think Coulson will agree?" Jemma asked concerned. She really wanted to go. But considering the Hydra threat and everything that was going on she thought their boss might not allow them this little vacation.

"I'll talk to him" Grant offered. "I think he will agree though. I mean, it might be the last time we can go on a vacation. Once we make a move and force Hydra out of hiding we won't be able to do anything like this for a long, long time" he added.

"Grant's right. Stop with the negativity, Jems. It'll be fine. You'll see. Now, I'm kinda hungry, how about you?" Skye asked her friends.

"I'm starving" Fitz quickly answered her.

"Me too" Jemma said grabbing her stomach.

"How about Grant makes some pancakes?" Skye asked.

"Hey, why do I always have to make them?" Grant asked, pouting a little. Skye immediately kissed the corner of his mouth and smiled before answering him.

"Because you make the best pancakes in the whole wide world."

"And we can help" Jemma said assuringly.

"Ok, if you help..." Grant agreed and went to the kitchen followed by a cheering group of three who chanted "pancakes, pancakes". Grant smiled. They were something!

It didn't take long and the four of them were sitting at the kitchen table, each eating a plate full of pancakes. They talked about what they would do during their vacation, 'Cause from their point of view it was not a matter of if, but when. Grant only hoped he could convice their boss to agree to this.

Noon came and found the inhabitants of Stark Tower each in their respective rooms, getting ready for the party. Since the guys wouldn't take long to get ready they went downstairs to the gym a few hours earlier for a little workout. It was there where Grant approached his boss about the vacation he and his fellow team mates planned.

"I don't know, Ward. There's so much to do..." Coulson started to say but stopped himself. He too felt a vacation, a real one, would benefit them all. Especially since it might as well be the last one in a very long time. "Alright, but I will have to check with Director Fury." Grant nodded in understanding. "Where did you plan to go anyways?" Coulson asked his specialist.

"Skye said Stark has a cabin in the Rocky Mountains that we could use. She said she would talk to him about it, but I have no clue if she already did. But even if he says no, we can go camping, which was the original plan" Grant exlained.

"Alright. I'll talk to Fury this evening and let you know."

"One more thing. We were hoping you and Agent May would join us. If you like, of course."

"I can't speak for May, but I would love too. Maybe we could go fishing" Coulson beamed at Grant's suggestion.

"We could do that. But could you ask May if she wants to join us? I think it would be slightly awkward if I would ask her."

"Don't worry, I'll do that."

After that Grant went to the punching bag, while Coulson left the gym, heading for his bedroom. He still had a lot of things to prepare for their meeting later. He got out of the elevator and went to his bedroom. Outside his room was Melinda waiting for him.

"Simmons told me that the team wanted a little vacation. And they invited us" she told him, her face expressionless, but Coulson had known her for a long time and knew that she His excited. They rarely had the opportunity to go on vacations like normal people. And despite what people might think of Melinda May she was really outdoorsy. She loved to go camping. Of course, he and a only a few other knew that.

"I know. Ward just asked for permission on the teams behalf" Coulson explained.

"And? Will you allow it? There is still a lot of work to do considering what is coming."

"It's not up to me entirely. Tonight I will talk to Director Fury, but I think he will be ok with it. And you? Will you join us?"

"Yes" she simply stated and left to get ready for the party. Coulson smiled and entered his room.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Warning: Mentioning of sex and drugs. Don't worry, nothing too bad… *evil laugh*

At 5 pm the team gathered in Tony Stark's living room. Everyone was all dressed up for the party that was about to start. While the girls admired each other's gowns the men tried not to frown all the time. They really didn't like these parties. Well, except Tony of course.

Nick Fury arrived shortly after five, accompanied by Agent Maria Hill, Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton and Captain Rogers.

"Welcome, welcome" greeted Tony his guests.

"Is everything ready?" Fury ignored Tony and went straight to Pepper, who he knew was in charge of the party.

"Yes, sir. Everything's ready. As for the meeting room Tony prepared it earlier this morning" she explained.

Since there wasn't much to do until the actual party started everyone just went downstairs to the ball room, waiting for their VIP guests.

Grant held Skye back when she tried to get into the elevator.

"What?" she asked confused.

"There are too many people. We get the next ride" he simply said before the elevator door closed, taking their friends and team mates downstairs. "Besides, I won't be able to do this once the party started" he said before crashing his mouth to hers. Their kiss soon became frantic and passionate and only stopped when air became an issue.

"Wow, that was… wow" was the only thing Skye could say.

"Yeah" came from Grant. After breathing in a few times he continued "did I tell you that you look absolutely stunning?"

"No" answered Skye, blushing slightly "you look handsome yourself, Agent Ward."

"It's too bad so many Hydra agents will be here tonight. I won't be able to dance with you or hold you or kiss you. This will be pure torture" he said frowning. Skye smiled and cupped his face in her hands.

"It won't take long, just a few hours. Remember, when the time comes for the meeting and your SO is nearby tell him Coulson asked you to write an report for Fury. When he asks…"

"I know baby, we went through this a couple dozen times" he told her reassuringly. "Come on, let's go and get this over with. I want my girlfriend back" he said almost pouting, which made Skye giggle.

They called the elevator and soon the door opened and they stepped inside. Grant pushed the button and turned around to face Skye. He got her pinned to the elevator wall before she knew what was happening and kissed her senseless.

"Stop" came a muffled plead from Skye. Grant, obviously upset by this, growled.

"Why? Just a little bit, until I have you just to myself again" he said, almost begging.

"Then let me hit the emergency button." Said and done. They kissed for another ten minutes before both let go, reluctantly, and continued their way down.

The moment the elevator door opened the decorated ballroom was revealed to them. It looked amazingly. Skye was more or less used to this, since Pepper used to throw all the Stark parties. At least the official, business ones anyway. Grant went to many such parties, being frequently part of his job as a spy. But he too had to admit that this room looked more stunning than any other room he saw before.

Grant immediately saw his SO and put his hand gently on Skye's lower back as to guide her out of the elevator. He went directly into his agent mode, as Skye liked to call it, and told her matter-of-factly that John Garrett was in the room. They both agreed that if they would be together when they first spotted Garrett they would both go and greed the man, as to not arouse any suspicions.

"Sir, it's good to see you" Grant greeted the older man, stretching out his hand.

"Good to see you too, son" answered Garrett with a grin on his face, shaking his agent's hand. "And look at you" he said, looking past Grant and over Skye "my dear, you look beautiful."

"Thank you, sir. I'm Skye, by the way" Skye greeted and stretched out her hand, copying Grant's gesture. Garrett immediately took it and shook it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, pretending to be concerned.

"Surprisingly well, actually. But I've got no clue what those people did to save me. Everyone is asking me and I have no clue."

"What about you, son? Won't you enlighten us?" he turned to Grant, with a look that said _you better know_.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to enter the room where they healed her. I tried, several times, but when the God of Thunder himself looks over your shoulder, you kinda stay put" Grant tried to explain. It seemed innocent, but both men knew each other well enough to understand the secret meaning behind Grant's cordial response. _I checked every possible way in, but those asgardian freaks kept a close watch on me. They would have send me back or into their dungeon._ Garrett nodded in understanding. He wasn't pleased. His most valuable asset failed him. All the trouble – for nothing. He couldn't risk doing it again. Coulson and SHIELD knew by now that the Clairvoyant wanted to know how they brought Coulson back from the dead. They wouldn't risk it now to show him where the drug came from that saved Coulson. Especially now since they had the alien support from blondie locks.

"You will have to excuse me, sir, Agent May told me to report to her the moment I arrived" Skye said and walked away, leaving Grant alone with Garrett.

"So, nothing?" he asked, this time his tone was sharp and threatening. Grant knew it all too well. It was his _I'm going to make you regret the day you were born_ tone. But Grant wasn't scared. Not by far. But he had to pretend being the ever obedient soldier.

"Nothing. I tried everything. But when I almost managed to get inside Thor caught me. I told him I was concerned for my team mate and rookie and that he please may forgive me. He didn't insist, but made sure that I was occupied the whole time" Grant explained.

"Doesn't matter now. So, do you have any idea what Coulson wants to talk to me about? He told me over the phone that he and Nick wanted to talk to me" Garrett asked Grant.

"I'm not sure. It might be the Clairvoyant. They hit dead ends all the time. I heard Coulson talk over the phone that he needed more man power. Someone that was also after the Clairvoyant and Centipede. Since I don't know any other high ranking SHIELD agent that fits the bill, my guess they want to ask for your help."

"Great, at least some good news. Now I can keep a closer eye on SHIELD's investigation, maybe even get some access to some more restricted files. Anything else?"

"Coulson asked me to write a non-tagged report on the Clairvoyant. Said we need to keep it in house. I'm almost done with it. I couldn't finish it because of this stupid circus here" gesturing to the ball room and it's occupants "the moment I get the chance I will leave to finish. I don't need Coulson on my ass over some stupid report."

"That's my boy" Garrett said.

At 8 pm most of the guests arrived at the party, enjoying themselves to the fullest. At this time FitzSimmons made sure to tell as many people they knew and spoke to that they were very curious to see Mr. Stark's lab. So no one actually missed them when they disappeared. May pretended to have a headache from all the nonsense going around, excusing herself in front of the agents she conveniently spoke to that night. Fury made sure that at least some Hydra agents heard him "whisper" something about a very classified mission to Barton, Romanoff and the Captain, dismissing them. They went to an elevator that brought them straight to the meeting place. Fury then went over to Coulson gesturing to follow him to find Garrett. Once they found him they asked him for his "help" in finding the so called Clairvoyant, which Garrett immediately accepted to do. Since Garrett already knew that Ward went to finish his report for Coulson, Garrett didn't miss the younger man at all. At some point Coulson excused himself, saying that he needed to check on Agent Ward to see if he finished his report and Skye who apparently had a glass of wine to many.

Tony was the last one to leave the party, inviting a few VIP's to his penthouse for a little show and tell session. But instead of entering the luxurious penthouse the VIP's were greeted in a underground bunker, as it seemed to them, by Nick Fury and Deputy Director Hill.

They were led to a well lit conference room where they each took a seat at the table. Fury introduced everyone of his team, some they knew others they never heard of, before he introduced the VIP's to his team.

"My fellow agents and consultants, these people are those we all picked to ask for their help." Obviously, the VIP's had no clue what was going on. "Director Stevenson - Homeland Security, Agent Simon – Central Intelligence Agency, Director Mason – Federal Bureau of Investigations, Agent Gellar – MI6, Agent Jones – Scotland Yard, Mr. Schneider – prime minister of Germany, Mr. Alain – prime minister of France, Mr. Alvarez-Coroda – minister for foreign affairs, Spain, Mr. DeHaan – prime minister of Norway. These people have been selected to help us defeat a threat that is currently preparing to strike."

"Pardon" the French prime minister interrupted Fury "what is this all about?"

"Let me explain. I will ask you to remain calm throughout my speech. You can address any question you have afterwards." They all nodded in agreement.

Fury told them everything they knew so far. About Hydra, about what they planned to do against Hydra, how those people in that room were selected… absolutely everything. It took Fury almost an hour to tell them all. And another half hour to convince them that the threat was real. After asking all their questions and getting their answers the VIP's agreed to help SHIELD defeat their enemy. They all saw it wise to keep this a secret, not just for the counterstrike's sake, but also to prevent panic among civilian population worldwide.

When everything was said Fury escorted the VIP's back to the party, while the others most likely returned to their bedrooms.

Grant remembered that he forgot to ask Skye about the cabin.

"Babe, did you ask Stark? You know about the cabin" he asked her, their team being close by caught that and looked at her. Skye immediately hit her head with her palm in a way that said _damn, I forgot_.

"Yo, Ton" she yelled across the room. Tony turned around to look at her.

"What? Why are you yelling?" he asked.

"Can I have the keys to the cabin in the Rocky's?"

"Why?"

"To fuck my brains out" Skye replied mockingly. "For a vacation. All of us, the team."

"Geez, kid. You sound more and more like me. You sure we are not related? You know by blood?"

"Tony, I think if God wanted us to be related he wouldn't have made you a dillhole. So, can I have them or not."

"I don't know…" he teased.

"You do realize I still have that Bangkok video, ya know you and Pamela…"

"You said you destroyed it" he shouted furious.

"And give up valuable black mail material. You must have smocked too much pot"

"First, there's no such thing as too much pot. And second, if I give you the keys will you please delete that video."

"The keys first."

"Video."

"Keys."

"Video."

"Dude, I can go all night long, remember. Keys?"

"Ok. But promise you will delete it. And no tricks."

"Cross my heart and hope to die" Skye said grinning triumphantly.

"The keys are upstairs. I'll give them to you as soon as we arrive there."

"Awesome. Oh, one more thing. I need some cash. Ya know."

"You little black mailer you. Alright. Let's go, before you remember something else."

"Have I told you that I love you today" Skye asked walking towards Stark, who held out his arm, motioning her to get under it. He held her tightly to himself and they both walked awkwardly to the elevator, leaving the rest of the team plus Barton, Romanoff, Rogers and Banner, who stayed in the shadows so far, for the obvious reason, completely perplexed by their interaction.

"Is anyone else relieved that those two aren't really related?" Barton asked the unspoken question. Everyone just nodded.

"They sure are something" Coulson said and left the room to get to the elevator himself. The others followed closely, trying to get to their floor as soon as possible and get some well deserved rest.


	25. Chapter 25

The next day the team left Stark Tower and headed back to the airfield where they parked the Bus. Fury agreed to give them a week off, since everyone was doing a great job. Coulson decided to stop on their way to the airfield and get all the necessary supplies for their trip and stay at the cabin.

The shopping part was rather uneventful and the team finally reached the Bus two hours later. May immediately went to the cockpit and started the engines. The Bus left New York in no time and the team was more than happy to have a little vacation.

The team decided that it was Grant's turn to cook lunch, which he reluctantly agreed to, even though he said that it wasn't his turn. Skye offered to help him, which basically meant she would sit on the counter looking cute and comment on how well shaped his ass looked. And would then touch it to just confirm it. Nevertheless, Grant loved just hanging out with Skye. The more time they spend together the more he loved her. They learned more things about each other every day and they both enjoyed it to the fullest.

"So, what are we going to cook?" Skye asked. Grant looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You mean, what will I cook?" he stated, Skye pouted.

"Hey, I'll help you." Grant leaned in and kissed her pouting lips. She immediately smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his firm body.

"Hey, keep it to your bunk" Coulson said, walking in on them.

"Sorry, A.C."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"What's for lunch?" Coulson asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Let me look what we have" Grant answered and opened the fridge.

"How about lasagna?" Skye asked.

"That's actually a good idea" Coulson said. "I'll leave you two to get the job done." He left the kitchen and could still hear Skye's giggles.

"So, how can I help?" asked Skye hopping off the counter.

Within an hour lunch was ready and the team gathered around the dining table. It was a little cramped, but they made it work. After lunch May returned to the cockpit, since the Bus nearly reached its destination, Coulson went to his office and FitzSimmons offered to do the dishes. Which left Grant and Skye some alone time in his bunk.

Grant was lying down on his back while Skye put her head on his chest listening to his steady heart beat. Grant doodled on her back which made her almost fall asleep when he spoke up.

"Are you happy?" he asked softly.

"Right now I'm very happy" she answered.

"No. I meant are you really happy? Being with me?" he asked, a hint of concern now audible in his voice. Skye lifted her head of his chest to look him in the eyes.

"Grant, I love you. Of course, I'm happy. What's with the question?" Skye asked a little concerned now.

"I love you too, baby. But you know my story, you know what I did and…" he started to talk but Skye stopped him by putting her index finger over his lips. Sometimes he started questioning if he was good enough for her. Skye knew that he loved her very much and that he would take a bullet for her, but he had that tendency to put her on a unreachable pedestal.

"Grant, we had this conversation before. Do you really think if I were unhappy I would be here right now? Like this with you? Please, honey, stop it. Don't you ever ask me that again. We promised each other no more lies. I would never lie to you, especially not about my feelings towards you" she firmly told him and leaned in to kiss him softly to reassure him of her feelings. He pulled her closer and deepened their kiss. They only parted when oxygen became an issue. Skye looked up at him smiling while doing so. Grant smiled back, amazed by her.

"What?" she asked.

"You are wonderful. And I don't deserve you. I'll thank whatever deity put you on my path for the rest of my life. I love you so much."

"I love you. And you are not the only one who feels this way. I ask myself every day what I did to deserve _you_. Because no matter what happened in the past you are doing the right thing now and you are a good man, Grant. Don't ever forget that. The fact that you came clean and work as hard as you can to help SHIELD is proof of that." She looked him in the eyes and saw that he relaxed a little. "Let's make a deal – we both feel that we don't deserve the other, but we love each other nevertheless. From now on let's not mention this ever again. OK?" Grant nodded. She was right. They both had their issues, but they were together and they loved each other no matter what. And that should be enough. She accepted him with all his demons and he did the same for her. He knew none of them were perfect, well he wasn't she was practically an angel. But he understood the situation. They were a couple and no one was really perfect. But they went through so much together already that he knew that they would make it no matter what life would throw at them. Smiling he placed a tender kiss on her forehead and closed his eyes breathing her sweet scent in.

"We land in five. Buckle up" they heard May say over the comms.

In less than 15 minutes they left the Bus at Stark's private airfield and took the SHIELD SUV they had and a second one Stark provided.

Since they had several items for their trip Coulson, May and FitzSimmons took the SHIELD car, while Skye and Grant took the other one, loading in with all their belongings. The drive to the cabin took them over an hour, but it didn't bother them. Skye was thankful that Fitz and Simmons decided to drive along with May and Coulson instead of her and Grant. She really wanted to be alone with her man. At that thought Skye let out a soft chuckle.

"What?" he asked confused. They haven't said a word for over ten minutes, he couldn't possibly think of reason for her to make that sound.

"It's nothing, really" she answered, a big smiled plastered on her face.

"Come on, babe."

"I was just thinking that it was nice of Fitz and Simmons to ride with Coulson and May instead of us. I really wanted some alone time with my man" Skye explained looking at him to see his reaction to calling him _her man_.

"So, I'm your man?" he asked smiling. "Ok, does that mean you're my woman?"

"I guess. Although that sound a little cavemany" Skye told him and started laughing.

"Huh, no I'm a cave man? You do realize that 1. You started it and 2. If I'm your cave man you are my cave woman?"

"Uhum" she just managed to say before bursting into laughter again. This time Grant joined in. Ever since Italy and implicitly Asgard he laughed more often than he could remember doing his whole life. And all thanks to the beautiful woman sitting right next to him.

When they finally arrived at the cabin Skye jumped out of the car and went to open the front door. Jemma followed her closely helping her to open all the windows to clear the air. May parked the SHIELD car in the garage, while Grant, Coulson and Fitz carried their belongings inside. After the car was unloaded Grant parked the second car in the garage next to the SUV.

"Welcome to the Casa Stark" Skye shouted. "If you would follow me I would like to give you a tour. Come on, I mean you in the back as well" she said pointing at Grant and Fitz who were chuckling at her childish behavior. They all followed her around while she showed them the cabin.

"As you can see upon entering this magnificent wooden cabin you are greeted by a welcoming living room with one awesome fireplace right over there" she said in a serious voice, pointing behind her. "It is not only a perfect place for romantic dinners, but also a perfect scenery for the most horrifying ghost stories ever told to man. And you can make some delicious marshmallows as well" she told them. They all smiled at her and followed her when she went further inside and towards the kitchen. They were all left speechless when they saw the state of the art kitchen. It had absolutely everything a chef would die for (and possibly kill for). "This my dear team mates is Pepper's favorite place in the whole house. As you can see one super awesome kitchen. Of course, she is the only one who actually uses it. Unless you count mixing _a get sober drink_" Skye looked around and saw some heads shaking a silent no. "Thought so. Although, I know some good recipes to get over a nasty hangover. No? Ok. To the right is a small bathroom and to the left is the exit to the porch. Now, if you would follow me now back to the living room I'll show you the study and the cinema."

"Cinema?" Fitz asked.

"Yeah. Come on." After seeing the study, which was filled with all kinds of books, they went on and saw what Skye meant with _cinema_. It wasn't as large as a cinema, but it had a wide screen and several seats placed in three rows. "So, what you think?"

"Can't wait to watch a movie here" Fitz told her amazed.

"Could we? I mean watch a movie after dinner?" Jemma asked.

"Sure. I can hook up my laptop to the screen and we can watch whatever you guys want. Ok, and now for the bedrooms. Please, follow me ladies and gentlemen" Skye motioned them outside of the cinema room and towards the stairs. She climbed them quickly and waited for them to reach the upper level as well.

"I'll start we Coulson" she said, grabbing his hand in hers and leading him to the first door on the left. She opened it and revealed a medium size room, decorated country style with a king sized bed right in the middle. She entered and beckoned him to follow. She left Coulson in his bedroom and left to show May hers. Which was right next to Coulson's. She had a similar one only it had an asian style. Right across from May's and Coulson's rooms were Leo's and Jemma's rooms. Leo's room was futuristic decorated, while Jemma's looked like a Disney princess bedroom. Each of their room had a private bathroom and balcony and were equipped with a stereo, a flat screen TV and a laptop.

"Oh my god, this looks amazing" beamed Jemma.

"Hey, why does she get the Disney room?" Leo pouted. The others had to laugh at his question.

"Oh, Fitz, you can always come and visit me in my princess bedroom" Jemma said smiling.

"Who's idea was it to decorate each room differently?" May asked.

"Mine and Pepper's. We thought it would be awesome. Since no one comes here except Tony, Pepper and myself we thought it would be fun to have several rooms decorated differently in case we wanna escape for an hour or two. Well, a made up escape anyway" Skye explained. "Do you like your rooms?"

"Yeah, they are great. I think I'm gonna take a nap in my cowboy bed, before dinner" Coulson announced.

"Me too" May said, quickly adding "in my own bedroom" and shut the door behind her.

The four younger members of the team chuckled and shared knowing looks.

"It's your turn to cook dinner" Grant quickly told FitzSimmons, not wanting to be stuck again in the kitchen.

"Fair" Jemma said "but it's still time. I think I'm going to read a book in the study. May I?" she asked turning to Skye.

"Sure, help yourself."

"I think I'm going to do that too. You mind me coming along?" Fitz asked Jemma.

"Not at all." The two scientist left the couple and headed downstairs to explore the Stark library.

"And where are we supposed to sleep?" Grant asked.

Skye only smiled and grabbed his hand making him follow her like a lost puppy. They headed for a second staircase and climbed it. When they reached the top Grant saw a single door in front of him, while behind him was a wall entirely made of glass, offering an amazing view over the forest outside the cabin.

Grant followed Skye who walked over to the door and opened it. The moment Grant stepped inside the room one thought raced through his mind. _Skye_. The room practically screamed of Skye.

"It's your room, isn't it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"How did you know?" she smiled at him.

"It's just…you."

"Yeah, it's my room. You like it?" Grant only nodded. He looked around the room. At the end of the room, opposite to the door was a king sized bed, on the left side of the room was a door, Grant presumed it was the bathroom, and next to it a huge closet. On the right side of the room was a TV and a couch, in a lounge kinda way, and a desk with a laptop on it. It wasn't very crowded but it looked homey. Grant found himself smiling.

"I love it" he said sincerely. Skye smiled at him. She snaked her arm around his neck and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

"Wanna try out my bed?" she asked seductively. He grinned and picked her up carrying her to the bed where he gently put her down and hovered over her.

"Hon?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Don't hate me right now." Skye looked confused.

"Why would I hate you?"

"I have to pee." Skye blinked a few times and then started laughing. "I'm glad you find it amusing" he said pouting.

"I'm sorry, baby. It's just… usually I kill the mood with my need to pee."

"True." He kissed the tip of her nose and went to the bathroom. He almost forgot he had to pee when he saw the bathtub. It had massaging jets installed and looked not only huge but also really comfy. He wondered if he could convince Skye to _disgrace_ it with him. At the thought he had to grin widely. Oh, he would definitely disgrace it with her.


End file.
